*r? -SS3&' vv -^v^c... !._, -SlflBL^CNao r .// Early \rN. " Bra da creacao do mundo de bjMbjclxxxb e de X (to) de llllclxxxb o. eycelent(e) esclarecido Kei dom J s. de portugal mandou descobrir esta terra e poer este padram por d(c.) ao cav". de sua casa." Tbe translation into English would be " In the year of the creation of the world, 6684, by the excellent and enlightened King Dom John the Second of Portugal, was Fm. 1. ordered the discovery of this land, and the erection of this pillar by Diogo Cao, a knight of his house(hold)." [Por Diogo Cao had been made a knight in 1484 as a result of his first voyage, which led to the discovery of the Eiver Zaire, now usually termed Congo.] By order of the Emperor of Germany this pillar was removed to Germany, and a replica of the same erected where the original stood. Through the courtesy of the German authorities the 4 Annals of the Smith African Museum. Trustees of the South African Museum have the promise of a facsimile of the original padrao. In 1487 King John the Second of Portugal fitted out another expedition, consisting of three vessels, two of some fifty tons' burthen, the other being smaller and used as a store-ship, and this new venture of discovery he placed under the command of Bartholomeu Diaz. It is during this reign that the discoverers were, for the first time, provided with commemorative pillars, or "padroes," to be erected at the farthest point reached, or to mark the progress of their journey. Cao is the first navigator who left Portugal with these regulation pillars. But the old chroniclers are certainly not clear about the number of padroes erected by that other bold navigator, Bartholomeu Diaz, who was to round the extreme part of Africa. Recent research has, however, brought forth conclusive evidence that he erected five pillars during his memorable journey, each having its respective name. The exact dates of the erection, corresponding mostly with his landings, are only approximate, but they are as follows, according to Codine : Departure from Lisbon, August 1-14, 1487. Landing at Angra Pequeria and erection of the pillar called Padrao Santiago, November 13-14, 1487. Landing at Angra das Voltas, November 19-24, 1487. Erection there of a third but nameless padrao. This bay, the translation of the name of which is " bay of tackings," owing to Dias's ships taking five days to reach the shore, was taken to be in 28 44' lat. south, and corresponds nearly to that of the present mouth of the Orange River (28 58' S.). At this place Dias left his store-ship with nine men. But as he called there on his return it is not certain if the pillar was erected at the above- mentioned date, or on his return (August 24, 1488). Arrival at the Bahia of Vaqueiros, or Bay of Cowherds, and at the Bahia of San Braz (Mossel Bay), apparently towards the end of January, 1488. He was certainly there on the 3rd of February of that year. It has been suggested that Cowherds Bay and San Braz Bay are identical, the date of his arrival corresponding to that dedicated to St. Blaise led to it being renamed as such. Reaches Algoa Bay, sets up a third pillar (Padrao da Cruz), on a small island of that bay, middle of February, 1488. Inscriptions left hi/ Early European N<(ri/infi>rs. 5 Beaches the Eiver Kio Infante; thence retraces his way to Algoa Bay and erects a fourth pillar, Padnio San Gregorio, on Cape Padron, to the east of the bay, February, 1488. Discovery of the Cape of Good Hope (Cabo tormentoso),* and PIG. 2. 22 cm. x 58 cm. erection there of a fifth pillar, Padnio San Felipe, August 16-17, 1488. Exploration of St. Helena Bay, August 18, 1488. Eeturn to Angra das Voltas, where the only survivor of the men he left there nine months previously expires at the sight of his comrades. Departure for Prince Island, and arrival in Lisbon, December, 1488. * Bias, in spite of the legend, never named this part otherwise than Cape of Good Hope. 6 Annals of the South African Museum. Of the five padroes here mentioned as erected by Dias, only one of them lias hitherto been found, namely, Padrao Santiago. The fragment exhibited is part of it. It was originally erected on the summit of a small granite eminence, and was discovered by Captain Owen in 1833, but " cast down evidently by design as the part of the shaft that had originally been buried in the rock had remained unbroken." This pillar, includ- ing the part originally placed in the ground, would have been altogether 7 feet 9 inches in length, corresponding in height with that erected at Cape Cross by Diogo Cao, and " was composed of marble rounded on one side, but left square on the other." The cross surmounting the pedestal was found at some distance. " It was sixteen inches square, of the same breath and thickness as the shaft, and had on the centre an inscription almost obliterated." Three pieces of the original Padrao Santiago were received at the Museum in 1856, two of which, part of the rounded side, were sent to Lisbon ; but a replica of the same has been made for us, presented by the Museum of the Geographical Society of Lisbon ; a fourth fragment is to be found in Auckland, New Zealand, left there as a gift by a former Cape Governor, the late Sir George Grey. The cross itself has not been recovered. POBTUGUESE INSCRIPTIONS. Vasco da Gama was the next navigator who was to complete, ten years later, the exploration of Dias, and to reach India (1497-1499). It seems, however, that the erection of padroes had then fallen into disuse, for there is, I believe, no record of any put up by this explorer, who, it is now almost certain, retraced the itinerary of his predecessor, Dias. Other expeditions were to follow on the way to the East Indies. Pedro Alvarez, better known under his nickname of " Cabral," in trying to double the Cape, discovered Brazil. One of his captains, Pedro de Atayde, separated from the fleet by a storm, reached the Bay of San Braz (Mossel Bay), and left there a letter in a shoe, placed, it is said, on the island in a conspicuous situation, and which was found by Joas da Nova, who had sailed from Portugal on the 5th of March, 1501, in charge of four vessels. Stone I. The Mossel Bay Stone. The fragmentary inscription on a stone found in Mossel Bay, appears to be a record of the visit of one of these two expeditions. Inscriptions left by Early European Navigators. 7 " At the demolition of the old Government House, there were found two stones on which were engraved, on the one a cannon, and on the other Portuguese words, of which some were broken off, others were indistinct, yet without doubt are the names of a certain ship and its captain, also the time of the arrival here, being the year 1500 or 1501." The stone with " the cannon " seems to have disappeared, or it is no longer to be found. The inscription on the Museum specimen is, however, very baffling, owing to its present incompleteness. FIG. 3. 41 cm. x 2L cm. It is skilfully graved, however ; and if we assume, as is highly probable, that " DA NOVA " or " NUEVA " was spelt, by mistake or otherwise, Novoa, and that BEA stands for Braz (the Portuguese name Sao Braz), the inscription refers to the call at Mossel Bay of da Nova's squadron in 1501 ; in spite of the graved date, which appears to be 1500. This, however, has no importance, because 1500 in the old style may partly correspond to 1501 new style, the year running then from end of March. If da Gama has left in Africa other inscriptions, and if they are found eventually, they would not be much more ancient than that of the Mossel Bay Stone. The latter can, therefore, be looked upon as the third most ancient European relic hitherto found in Southern Africa. Annals of the South African Museum. Stone II. The Plettenberg Say Stone. The second Portuguese inscription, known as the Plettenberg Bay Stone, was removed to Cape Town about the year I860. It is stated that the stone originally stood on a sandhill about three miles south of the present village of Plettenberg, on the littoral of the Cape Province. FIG. -1. 52 cm. x 47 cm. This inscription reads, " Here was lost the ship Sao Gonzales. Year 1630. They made two boats." The Sao Goncalo, or Gonzales, reached India on the 24th of September, 1629, and left for the kingdom, i.e. Portugal, on the 4th of March of the year following. Fernao Lobo de Menezes was then captain of the vessel, and the latter having sprung a leak, he made for the land, and "came to the bay called Fermosa, on the confines of the Cape of Good Hope." But while they were endeavouring to pump the vessel dry and trying to right her, a storm came upon her while at anchor and she foundered. Inscriptions left, In/ Ear/// European Navigators. 9 All the people left on her (one hundred and fifty) perished, but one hundred of them were ashore at the time of the gale. They eventu- ally built two boats with the debris of the vessel, one of which set sail for Mozambique, where it arrived safely ; the other reached the Cape (Table Bay), and sighting there the Sdo Ignacio de Loyola, of the fleet of 1630, were taken on board, but this vessel perished upon the bar of Lisbon. Such is the abbreviated history of the three Portuguese relics in the Museum. FRENCH, ENGLISH, DUTCH, AND DANISH INSCRIPTIONS. After de Gama's discovery, Cabral, da Cunha, Albuquerque, Almeida, Sequeira, and other explorers, all Portuguese, visited the eastern seas and the Islands of Spices via the Cape. The Spaniards, by now a powerful maritime nation, did not follow on their track, because the Pope had arbitrated on the respective sphere of both Portugal and Spain. The ventures were very lucrative, as proved by the number of ships sent from Portugal : 507 from the year 1500 to 1550, and 264, of much larger tonnage, from 1550 to 1560. But a few years only after da Gama had opened the road to India other nations are found to have entered this newly discovered field. Privateers or merchantmen, or both together, began to operate in the Mozambique Channel and other regions, and these were French. In 1508 Queimado, commander of one of the ships of Tristan da Cunha's fleet, was captured by Frenchmen in the Mozambique Channel. In 1560 Captain Bondard, from La Rochelle, was hanged at Mozambique for plundering Portuguese caravells in the Indian Ocean." Of three French privateers that sailed from Dieppe in 1526, one is known to have stopped at Madagascar, and to have done some trading there. So that it is inexact to say that during the period 1500 to 1560 no European flag, other than the Portuguese, was seen in the Eastern seas. But their expeditions did, after a time, sail from the island of St. Helena without touching at Table Bay, and therefore left no inscriptions there. FRENCH INSCRIPTION. Stone III. On one stone is a French inscription with the date un- fortunately mutilated. This piece of rock has been badly used; * The Portuguese claiming a monopoly of their discoveries under a Papal Bull, the operations of any competitor were considered by them to be piratical. 10 Annals of the South African Museum. the date is missing, also the continuation of the four lines of letters. On the reverse of the thick slah is a Dutch record dated 1634. On examination it becomes apparent that the block on which the French inscription stood was pared or reduced so as to allow of the new one, which is entire, being graved on the reverse. But how long the first preceded the second, and whose record it is, remains, so far, a mystery. Paulmier de Gonville is believed, with good reason, yet without much documentary evidence, to have rounded the Cape in 1503, and to have reached Madagascar in that year. But he sailed from FIG. 5. 57 cm. x 24 cm. ICY EST ARRIVE DAVID DIGAED DE DIEPPE 8 10 DE FEVRER 1 ... (Here arrived David Digaed from Dieppe, 8-10 February, 1 . . .) Honfleur, not Dieppe, in June. The inscription cannot be, there- fore, ascribed to him. There is no information about the vessels who were flying the French flag in 1508 in the Mozambique Channel, and even captured there, as stated before, one of the ships of Tristan da Cunha's fleet. In 1527 a French vessel, one of a company of three, all from Dieppe, stopped at Madagascar, traded there, and left behind a sailor, whom Diogo de Fonseca picked up in 1531. The brothers Parmentier, also of Dieppe, following the Cape route, left with two ships, La Pensee (400 tons) and Le Sacre(l%Q tons), on Inscriptions left by Early European Navigators. 11 March 28, 1529, and reached Sumatra the same year, where one of the brothers, Jean, died in December. But apart from the name of the home port, there seems to be no connection with that of the ships or the dates. The only instance of French vessels being recorded near Table Bay, but not in Table Bay as is generally believed, in these early times, is by the Dutch Commander Spilbergen, a record corroborated by the narrative of Francois Pyrard, from Laval, who was on board an expedition from St. Malo, consisting of two vessels, Le Croissant and Le Corbin. under the command of La Bardeliere. The accounts of both leave no doubt that the French vessels met the Dutch Commander sailing out of the Bay, and did not land. It does not, therefore, seem improbable that this French graved record is that of one of the vessels that left Dieppe in 1526 ; in which case this is the oldest inscription other than the Mossel Bay. POST OFFICE STONES. From the end of the sixteenth and the beginning of the seven- teenth century many vessels, other than Portuguese, touched at Table Bay in order to obtain fresh provisions from the natives. Anthony Marlow, on board the English ship Hector in 1602, says, speaking of Table Bay, " the best and cheapest place to refresh men in these voyages that ever ship can come to " ; and it is recorded that on the first voyage of an English squadron to the East Indies begun under command of the Admiral G. Eaymond, who perished with the Flag-ship, and finished by Captain James Lancaster, they put into Table Bay where ultimately thirty natives brought forty bullocks and about as many sheep, of which the English got a good supply, giving two knives for an ox. These vessels left graved on flat stones inscriptions recording the name of the ship and of her captain and the dates of arrival and departure. Letters were often also placed beneath these stones, as borne out by the inscriptions. In these early days a stream descending from Table Mountain ran to the sea, discharging its water into Table Bay near what is now Adderley Street, and there it was that the mariners landed, to till their water-casks at or near the bottom of Strand Street, where was a large sand-dune continued as far as the present Green Point Common. Most of the inscribed stones recovered have been found near what is now Adderley Street, with the exception of two English which were used, intentionally or not, in building the walls of the " Castle " 12 Annals of the SoutJi African Museum. with the inscription outwards. But as from 1602 the vessels of the English and Dutch East India Companies called nearly every year at the Cape, and as moreover the captains of the English vessels were instructed to leave such records, it is possible that graved stones other than those now recorded will be found at some future time. While digging foundations for an extension of the present railway station in Cape Town in 1906, the old landing-place at the foot of Adderley Street was uncovered, and a number of graved stones that had evidently been collected and brought to the spot in former days were exposed to view. These stones, and others recovered before, form the series bearing the name of " Post Office Stones." An extract of a letter addressed by Edward Blitheman to Sir Thomas Smith (East India Company's Records) leaves no doubt as to the object for which these stones were inscribed, and seems to explain also the presence of the two inscriptions in the Castle at some distance from the customary place : " And in the time of our being there (Table Bay, October, 1613) the Dutchman (also in the Bay) made known unto us a packet of letters which their company had found on the top of a hill. So our General sent myself and Mr. Millward for the fetching of them, being a place at least distant two miles from our tents. So finding them we perceived them to be the letters of the factors of Captain Downston's fleet . . . and afterwards our General sealed them up again in a letter of his directed to your worship and buried them by the stone where he placed his name." The French Commander Beaulieu, who sailed on the 2nd of October, 1619, from Harfieur, in Normandy, on a voyage to Bantam, via Senegal and the Gold Coast where he traded, landed in Table Bay on the 16th of March, 1620, and he writes thus : " Some of our men going ashore happened to light upon a great stone, with two little packets of pitched canvass underneath, which we afterwards found to be Dutch letters. When we opened them we found first a strong piece of pitched canvass, then a piece of lead wrapped round the packet ; under that two pieces of red cloth, then a piece of red frieze, all wrapped round a bag of coarse linen in which were the letters very safe and dry. They contained an account of several ships that had passed that way ; particularly of an English advice boat that was gone to England to acquaint the Company with the injury the Dutch had done them in the East Indies. They likewise gave notice to ships that passed that way to take care of the natives who had murdered several of their crew, and stolen some of their water-casks." Inscriptions left by Early European Navigators. 13 This narrative of the French Commander throws, in addition, a singular light on the dangers attending at that time landing in Table Bay, for he adds : " The next day I sent fifty men on shore with sails to make tents of ; when the boat returned they told me they had found several corpses of dead men and clothes scattered up and down, and a small fortification of earth which we guessed to be built by the Danes, for one of the natives that spoke a sort of jargon of broken English gave us to understand more by signs than by his language that five ships had sailed from thence to the eastward about three months before." ENGLISH INSCRIPTIONS. Stone IV. If the French followed very early in the wake of the Portuguese, such cannot be said of the English, for it is only in 1577 that the famous sea Captain Drake, and, nine years later, Thomas Candish, sighted the Cape ; but they did not land. In July, 1591, however, the fleet of Admiral Raymond put into Table Bay, and on the 22nd of April, 1601, the first fleet fitted out by the " Governor and Company of Merchants of London trading to the East Indies," and commanded by Sir James Lancaster, sailed from Torbay. It consisted of the Dragon (600 tons) ; the Hector (300 tons); the Ascension (260 tons); and the Sit-in (240 tons). It is not known if Admiral Raymond, or Lancaster, left any inscribed stones to denote their landing in Table Bay, but the ship Hector of Lancaster's fleet was again at the Cape homeward bound in 1605, i.e. 1606 present style, as proved by the graved stone No. 6. Antony Hippon, who was mate or master of the Hector, and had put into Table Bay in 1605, did again call at the Cape as mate or master of the Drat/on in 1607. He looked for and found his first inscription, and added to it the date of his second arrival or departure. He was in charge of the Globe in the seventh voyage, and reached the Cape on May 21, 1611, sailing hence on June 6th. Possibly the name Ant lion if II. in smaller letters on the lower part of the slab is a record of this occasion. It is this Captain Hippon who planted the first English factory on the mainland of India (Masulipatan). He died on board the Globe one month after leaving Table Bay. The stone bearing this inscription was discovered lately, embedded in one of the walls in the Castle, and it is the oldest in date of the English records of call in Table Bay. 14 Annals of the Soutli African M/// />// Earlij European Navigators. 21 DE PFQK- Lent* > Fid. 11. 42 cm. x 37 cm. DAY MAY ............ ? D. THE 23 DEP FOR SURRAT THE ............. TUN it D XII III GEORGE PIKE MARC As to the better-preserved inscription, in which the name of George Pike figures plainly, a person of this name was a Factor of the Company. Stone VIII. The stone bears two inscriptions. (See next page.) The slab is deposited in the vestibule of the General Post Office, Gape Town. The specimen on exhibition in the Museum is a cast of the same. The London, a vessel of 800 tons, Captain Eichard Blyth, with the Jonas and the Lion, sailed from Surat, December 18, 1622, anchored in " Saldania Bay, March 10, 1622-3; left again March 23rd, not 20 as inscribed, reaching the Downs, July 18, 1623." The second inscription would appear to be a Dutch one. This stone was found in 1897, when an excavation was being 22 Annals of the South African Musewil. made in the ground immediately in front of the then recently com- pleted offices of the Union Castle Company in Adderley Street. It had, however, been discovered before, but was evidently left in situ until it became again hidden from sight, for we read in the Cape Town Gazette of Friday, August 17, 1827 : " On removing the earth to make some repairs to a drain in the Heeregracht (now Adderley Street) a large stone was uncovered, upon which the following inscription was traced," and a correct transcription is there given. Tf LONDON'AWVD^FE'10'OfM FROM $VRATBOVN>FCR ENGLAND AN> Of PW -T-E<>a DICTO BLVTH CAPTANF \6LL LOOKL FOR LETTERS FIG. 1-2. 105 cm. x GO cm. The upper inscription reads : THE LU\DO\ . AKIVED THE . 10 . OF M(ARCH) HEBE . FROM SURAT . BOUND . FOR . ENGLAND AND . DEPAR(TED) THE . 20 DITTO . 1622. RICHARD BLYTH CAPTAIN. HERE UNDER LOOK FOR LETTERS. Below this 1629. JAN. REY R - CLOCK (OR CLOOK) GASP V BERING HEN H. f. Stone IX. The London a few years later met the Blcssiiuj and the Will in in. at the Cape both inward bound, and a record of this call exists in an Inscriptions left by flarly European Navigators. inscription on a very uneven rock, and graved by a hand but little acquainted with cutting letters on stone : THOMAS WALIS WILLIAM HARVEY MYSMATES OF THE ONDON 8 OF MAY 1627 JOHN SHORT A M. The same ship was in Table Bay in 1631 ; as shown by the inscription graved on the obverse of a flat stone bearing on the other side a Dutch inscription dated 1632 (Stinu* XVII.) FIG. 13. 56 cm. x 33 cm. RICHARD ARNOTT COM. OF LONDON ARRIVED JULY 4. AN 1631. DEP. XXII. ? M I I H 24 Annals of the South African Museum. X. has three English inscriptions cut on a large slah found built, topsy-turvy, in one of the outer walls of the Castle in Capo Town, about ten feet above the glacis, and not far from the main gateway. There seems to be little doubt that this stone was lying close by, and was utilised for the original building of the lOMN-ROBERIi COMMRVN'DEROF Tl , -ER-IANES DECTM-DE-l LdTRES - 4 r c ALLE>X l BANISTER OJ-N RpWJAfT (\OB-LITLfR FIG. 18. 27 cm. x 20 cm. D : AUSTEN M K ' OF Y E SHIP SWAN ARRIVED 23 FEBR(UARY) 1632 DEPARTED 6 MARCH I ALEX : BANISTER JOHN ROW. E : ROB : LITLER. the instructions to the English Commanders to look for or deposit letters, etc., applied to Saldania, but the island may have been considered to have been part of the Bay. DUTCH INSCRIPTIONS. It is only at the end of the sixteenth century that the Dutch, who were still pressing on strenuously in their search for the North-West Passage to reach India, began to turn their attention to the Cape route, and the " Compagnie van Verre " (Association of Distant Lands) of Amsterdam and Middelburg sent Cornells Houtman from the Texel with four vessels to find the way to the east. Houtman sailed from Texel on April 2, 1595, reached Sumatra in July, 1596, and returned to Amsterdam in August, 1597. The new venture was so readily taken up that within six years no less than forty-nine ships were dispatched to India. They included the fleets of C. Houtman in 1595 ; of the same C. Houtman, Jan van Neck, W. van Warwyk, S. de Weert, and 0. van Noort in 1598 ; of Inscriptions left by Early European Navigators. 33 S. van der Hagen and P. van Caerden in 1599 ; of J. van Neck in 1600. The Dutch East India Company, the full title of which was " De Vereenigde Nederlandtsche Geoctroyeerde Oost - Indische Compagnie," was founded in 1602, but that the ventures were proving remunerative is shown by the increasing number of vessels sent from April, 1601, to 1606 (old reckoning). The expeditions which left Holland from that date are as follows: April, 1601, W. Harmansen, 5 ships ; J. van Heemskerk, 9 ships ; May, 1601, J. van Spielbergen, 3 ships ; June, 1602, W. van Warwyk, 14 ships ; Matalief, 11 ships ; April, 1606, P. van Caerden, 8 ships ; December, 1607, P. W. Verhoever, 13 ships, etc., etc. It is not known if all these fleets touched at Table Bay. Sailing at first with Portuguese maps they would make for St. Helena Bay and Mossel Bay ; but after the visit of Spielbergen to Table Bay, they made that place for some time a port of call. Cornells Houtman is the first Dutch navigator who landed in South Africa. He came to St. Helena Bay, where he bartered cattle for iron, and had some dispute with the Hottentots. The quarrel was, however, made up, and the fleet departed after nine days' stay. It may be the same fleet, sailed by " Portingalles sea cards" which came to Mossel Bay, where the inhabitants (Hotten- tots) spoke very strangely clocking like turkey cocks. The Com- mander says " the natives seem savage, yet with us they used all kinds of friendship." This friendship was not to be of long duration, for in his second voyage Houtman, in November, 1598, anchored in Table Bay with two ships, the Leeuw and the Lccuwin, but their crew fared badly at the hands of the natives, as narrated by John Davis of Arctic fame, who was the pilot of the ship. " We came to Saldanha Bay on the llth November, and traded with the natives at very easy rates, obtaining fat oxen and sheep for old nails and pieces of iron. The Dutch having done them some injuries they absented them- selves for three days, and having in the meantime alarmed the country by fires from the mountains, they returned again on the 19th bringing a large number of cattle with them. But while the Dutch were bartering with them, they made a sudden and furious assault upon them, slaying thirteen in a moment with hand darts. The rest of the Dutch saved themselves by flight. They embarked and went under way the same evening." The Dutch Captain, Paulus van Caerden, came, in the year 1599, to a bay situated a few miles to the eastward of Table Bay, where he 3 34 Annals of the South African Museum. stayed six days. He was again in Table Bay in April, 1606 and 1609. It is he who is credited with having arranged caches on Kobben Island for the exchange of letters between the outward- and inward-bound vessels of the Dutch fleets. In the year 1601, the Dutch Admiral, Joris van Spilbergen, who had left Holland in May with the Bain, the Scliaap, and the Lceuw, landed at St. Helena Bay, from where he set sail on November 20th, and came on the 28th to a small island, which he named Elizabeth Island, but which was afterwards called Dassen Island. He weighed anchor on the 29th, and reached Robben Island and Table Bay on December 2nd. He seems not to have met any aborigines in the bay, although he is said to have sent some people into the country to get cattle. He departed on January 1, 1602, and changed in his new map the name of Saldanha Bay into Table Bay (it was the Portuguese, Antonio Saldanha, who had discovered the present Table Bay in 1503), but the name Saldania was retained by the English long after that change. In 1604, the ships Zirikzec, Hollandsche Turn, and Gans, still following the Portuguese itinerary, came to Saldanha Bay, where they remained till the end of September, and enjoyed much friend- ship from the Hottentots. The Dutch Admiral, Cornelis Matelief, came on April 7, 1606, into Table Bay no longer Saldania for the Dutch. He is said to have found on Eobben Island several English names of 1604, and one of December 28, 1607, engraved on the stones. Matelief commanded the Orange, Middelburgh, Mauritius, Swarte Leemv, Wilte Leemv, Groote Son, Kleyne Son, Amsterdam, Nassauiv, Erasmus, and Provincien. By this time it had become customary for the English and Dutch Commanders to bring from the mainland some of the bartered sheep and cattle to Robben Island, for the benefit of the other vessels calling, who in turn restocked the island by leaner beasts. Thus, Alexander Sharpey, in July, 1608, " took twenty fat sheep from the island, which had been left there by the Dutch, and put some oxen on it." Paulus van Caerden commanding the Banda, Bantam, Ceylon, Walcheren, Tcr Veere, China, and Patana, anchored March, 1609, etc., etc. And from that date onwards the Dutch continued to touch for refreshments, as did also the English. The two English fleets under the command of Andreas Shilling, and Humphrey Fitz- herbert, which were going to Surat and Bantam, found on their arrival at Table Bay, on July 1, 1620, a Dutch fleet of nine ships Inscriptions left by Early European Navigators. 35 bound likewise for Bantam. It will be remembered that these bold commanders took possession of the country in the name of King James. The Dutch are said to have been present when they executed that resolution, and entered no protest against it. The relations of the Dutch, and perhaps also of the Danes, with the Hottentot aboriginals were evidently by that time not all that could be desired. Beaulieu's statement of the bodies of Europeans found slain by his men in 1620 goes to prove this ; and even five years later, in William Minors's account of the homeward voyage of the Scout, we find that on the arrival of the vessel in Table Bay in November, 1625, the Dutch ship Leiden, bound for Batavia, and nine months out from Holland, came into the roadstead. She supplied the Scotit with necessaries, " as also wee imparted unto them beefes and sheepe which wee goat ashoare and they by their evill useadge of the blacks could not obtain." It is highly probable that the Dutch followed in the early days the example of the English, and left inscriptions recording the date of arrival and departure of their ships. But of these none have been found recording the names of the vessels already mentioned. On the other hand we find in an account of Eevett, who was in the waters of Table Bay with the English ships Ascension and Union, from April 12th to June 22, 1608, the following entry: " There was found upon the island [i.e. Robben Island] the Flemish General's name [Cornells MateliefJ written upon tynn in the month of April last, so that we imagine they had a favourable and quick passing." The number of the graved Dutch inscriptions recovered hitherto is five, the first in date being a very fragmentary one. Stone XIV. HIER ENRICH . . . IENSC. R MAN OP Rudely carved across these letters is the date 1618, and the letters VINCENT STA GEAERT Valentyn, the historian of the Dutch Indies, does not give the name of the Commander of the 1618 squadron. His vessels were : 36 Annals of the South African Museum. DC Orangieboom, Postpaard, Eendragt, W/' ilia South African M/ix<'/tin. Beddard had in hand when he labelled the different bottles. Every bottle has inside a piece of paper with the scientific name in Beddard's handwriting, and outside on the label an exact note written by Dr. Purcell, saying how many specimens the bottle contained, firstly when sent to Beddard, and secondly when returned to the Museum. This second note in all cases was in accord with what I found. If there is now much confusion, the cause of it must be seen in two rather gross mistakes of Beddard. Firstly, with one exception (Acanthodrilus pliotodilm and A. lucifuga), Beddard took it for granted a priori that each bottle contained only a single species, whilst most of the bottles in fact contained more than one. Beddard apparently has examined only a small number of specimens out of each bottle, and then labelled the whole according to his views on this small part only. Secondly, Beddard took it for granted a priori that the different bottles in each case contained different species, whilst in fact this or that species occurs in different bottles. It might be assumed that later the contents of different bottles became mixed. But I am sure that this is not the case. Two circumstances are against this view, viz. firstly the exactitude of Dr. Purcell 's registration, and secondly all species from Knysna are found only in the bottles with the label " Knysna," all species whose distribution really is restricted to the Cape Flats are found only in the bottles labelled "Cape Flats." If there indeed had been any intermingling, it could not be conceived why it was restricted in each case to the bottles of the same locality. This statement was necessary to justify my list of synonymies of the species in question. In the following I give a list of the Oligochaets of the South African Museum at Cape Town, together with short but sufficient diagnoses of the new or insufficiently known species, and with synonymical list and localities. FAMILY HAPLOTAXIDAE. PELODRILUS APRICANUS, Mich. 1905. Pdodrilus africanus, Michaelsen in Deutsche Siidpolar- Exp., 1901-1903, ix., Zool., i., p. 19. LOG. Newlands slope of Table Mountain, near Cape Town ; Dr. F. Purcell, leg. viii., 1886. Report upon the Oligochaeta. !> FAMILY MEGASCOLECIDAE. SUB-FAMILY AGANTHODBILINAE. EODRILUS AKUNDINIS (Beddard). 1897. Acanthodrihis arundinis + A. arenarins + A. falcatus, Beddard in P. Zool. Soc., London, 1897, pp. 339, 340, 341. 1900. Notiodrilus arundinix + N. areiiarius + N. falcatus, Michaelsen in Tierreich, x., pp. 132, 133. 1907. ? Eodrilus (? Microscolex nnnnlinis + Eodriln* iiri'iuiriits + '.' Eodriln* (? Microscolex) fn I rains, Michaelsen in Fauna Stidwest-Australiens, i., pp. 141, 143. Loc. Cape Flats, Roiide Vley, near Zeekoe Vley (types of Acait- tliodrihts anuidinis), E. from Wynberg (types of A. art'in/riiis), and 1 mile E. from Retreat Station (types of A. falcatus) . Cape Flats, near Zeekoe Vley ; Dr. F. Purcell, leg. 16, xii., 1898. Cape Flats, f mile SB. to S. from Eetreat Station ; Dr. F. Purcell, leg. 16, xii., 1898. Cape Flats, 1 mile SE. from Eetreat Station ; Dr. F. Purcell, leg. 16, xii., 1898. External Characters. Length 35-60 ram., thickness 1-3 mm., number of segments 12-103. Colour yellowish grey; without pigmentation. Head epilobous. Setae separated, in general aa : be > cd == ca. 1J- 2 ab ; del = ca. p. Clitellum ring-shaped at the 14-16 segments, covering also small parts of the 13 and the 17 segments. Prostate pores at the 17 and 19 segments in b. 48 Anna IK <>f the South African Museum. Seminal furrows bent rather strongly, laterally convex. Spermathecal pores at 7/8 and 8/9 in b. Internal Anatomy. Alimentary tract : A rather large glittering gizzard in the 5 segment. No calciferous glands. Male organs : Two pairs of free spermiducal funnels in the 10 and 11 segments. Three (?) pairs of sperm-sacs in the 9, 11, and 12 seg- ments (?). Prostates tube-like, restricted to 1 segment or to 2 segments ; glandular part irregularly wound ; duct rather short, quite straight, about half as thick as the glandular part. Penial setae in two different forms : (1) slender form ca. O9 mm. long and proximally ca. 8 p. thick, distally 3| p thick, slightly and simply bent; distal end flattened and somewhat broadened (to about 5 /.<), somewhat hollowed, ending in two clumsy tips between which is expanded a plane with concave edge ; distal end of seta ornamented with some scarce and small clumsy teeth or knobs, which are placed in the proximal ends of longitudinal scar-like recesses, and hardly project above the general surface of the seta ; (2) clumsier form ca. 0-4 mm. long and proximally 10 /< thick, in the middle still 9 ft. thick, and quickly diminishing not long before the distal end ; in general nearly straight, but distal end bent to the form of a spiral, with a simple tip ; distal part of the seta, with the exception of the bent tip, ornamented by rather gross scale-like protuberances at the proximal end of rather deep scar-like recesses. Spermathecae : Ampulla longitudinally sac-like; duct sharply separated from the ampulla, about as long and as thick as the latter ; somewhat above the distal opening of the duct the latter is entered by a diverticulum, which is somewhat shorter than the ampulla, and which has the shape of a forked tube ; the two ends of this forked diverticulum are of somewhat different length, and the longer one is about as long as the common basal part. EODRILUS DRYGALSKII, Mich., var. 110V. CASTELLI. Loc. Kasteels Poort Gorge, Table Mountain, near Cape Town ; Dr. F. Purcel, leg. Northern slope of Table Mountain, near Cape Town ; Dr. W. Michaelsen, leg. l'].rtcnial Characters.- Length 48-58 mm., maximal thickness 3-3^ mm., number of segments 110-150. Copulatory organs wanting or two unpaired transversely oval glandular cushions medially-ventrally at the 17 and 19 segments, and one pair of transversely oval papillae at the hinder part of the G or the 9 segment, or an additional unpaired similar one at one side of the 21 segment. Report upon the Oligochaeta. Internal Aiuttonn/. Penial setae in general shaped like those of the typical form, but differing in the shape of the ornaments, which in this variety are not sharply pointed smooth thorns, hut more clumsy protuberances, the distal slope of which is roughened by a rather large number of very small roundish or pointed knobs. Spermathecae : Ampulla apparently constantly with a neck-like contraction at the middle. In other respects like the typical form. CHILOTA CAPENSIS (Bedd.). 1885. Acantliodrilus capensis, Beddard in Proc. Phys. Soc., Edin- burgh, viii., p. 370. 1886. Acanthodril/i* cujx'nxis, Beddard in P. Zool. Soc., London, 1885, p. 170. 1895. Antliodrilus capcu^i*, Beddard in A Monograph of the Order of Oligochaeta, Oxford, 1895, p. 539. 1900. Chilota capensis, Michaelsen in Tierreich, x., p. 147 Loc. Cape Colony (without further notes, types of Acanthodrilus capensis}, Moddergat, near Lynedoch in the Stellenbosch district ; L. Peringuey, leg. External Characters. Length 90-110 mm., maximal thickness 6-7 mm., number of segments 80-146. Colour dorsally light brownish grey, like smoke. Head tanylobous. Setae at the hinder end somewhat enlarged, in general ventrally narrowly or widely paired, dorsally separated; at the 8 segment aa : ab : be : cd 6 : 4 : 8 : 9 ; at the hinder end aa : ab : be : ccl = 6:4:6:6; ab towards the male pores diminishing ; eld -= ca. yu. Nephridial pores generally in c. Clitellum at 1 13-18 segments (= 5). Prostate pores in b upon small papillae. Seminal furrows slightly bent, laterally convex, passing the 18 segment laterally from the setae ab which here are normally developed. Spermathecal pores at 7/8 and 8/9 in b. Copulatory organs : Ten pairs or less of copulatory cushions or papillae at or near the ventral pairs of setae (at a part of the segments 7-21). Internal Anatomy. Septa 6/7-13/14 thickened, the septa 9/10 and 10/11 very strong. Alimentary tract : A large gizzard in the 5 segment. No calci- ferous glands. 50 Annals of the South African Museum. Male organs: A pair of grape-like sperm-sacs in the 11 segment (in the 9 segment no sperm-sacs seen wanting?). Prostates tube-like, occupying only a few segments. Glandular part forming some windings ; duct short and thin. Penial setae 2-2-| mm. long and proximally ca. 30 /i thick, distally slowly diminishing, being 20 /.i thick a little before the distal end, nearly straight in the proximal three quarters ; distal quarter bent at a blunt and rounded angle, flattened and somewhat broadened, smooth at the extreme end, or else ornamented by rather densely crowded slender triangular spinelets. Spermathecae : Ampulla sac-like, distally narrowed. Duct shorter than the ampulla and proximally about half as thick, distally thinner. The duct arises from the ampulla at a right- angle and bears at its proximal end a moderately large unstalked diverticulum which is bent down and is lying just in the line of the ampulla. The diverticulum is provided with some seminal chambers which are placed peripherally and are separated only incompletely from the main central chamber of the diverticulum. CHILOTA BERGVLIETANUS, Mich. 1908. Chilota bergvlietanus, Michaelsen in Denksch. Jena, viii., p. 37, Taf. v., figs. 5-9. Loc. Table Mountain near Cape Town. CHILOTA VANHOFFENI, Mich. 1905. Chilota Vanlioffeni, Michaelsen in Deutsche Stidpolar-Exp., 1901-1903, ix., Zool. i., p. 42, Taf., figs. 8a, 9. Loc. Table Mountain near Cape Town ; Dr. P. Purcell, leg. CHILOTA MONTAGUAKUS, n. sp. Loc. Montagu Pass, 3 miles N. from George ; Dr. P. Purcell, leg. External Characters. Length 63-72 mm., thickness 21 nun., number of segments, 126 and 116. Head tanylobous. Setae ventrally widely paired, dorsally separated, in genera] act : ab : be : <{. Colour (of preserved specimen), light brown ; lai'ge dark spots in more or less longitudinal rows on body and on head, belly and isthmus without spots ; pectoral fins with large dark spots in irregular lines, outer half whitish ; dorsal and anal fins blackish. One specimen, 358 mm. in length, from Mr. Homer Robinson, Natal. GEN. DENTEX, Cuv. DENTEX BIVULATUS, Riipp. Neue Wirbelt. Fisch. p. 116, pi. 29, f. 2, 1837. Teeth, canines strong, a series of conical teeth on the sides. Depth of body 2 1 times in total length excluding caudal, length of head 3^,, times. Snout 1-J- times diameter of eye, which is 3 times in length of head and f interorbital width ; maxillary reaches to anterior nostril ; preorbital naked, its depth about equal to diameter of eye ; 4 series of scales between preorbital and angle of preoperculum ; hind limb of preopercle feebly emarginate, entire, with a few ser- rations at its rounded angle ; opercle with a blunt inconspicuous spine. Dorsal x 10 ; spines increasing in length to 3rd, which is ^ length of head, the remainder decreasing in length ; middle soft rays about 1^- times as long as longest spine. Pectorals a little more than A Descriptions of fV.sAv.s from the Coast of Nntnl. ('>!) length of head, reaching to anal. Ventrals f length of head, reach- ing a little beyond vent. Anal iii 10 ; 2nd spine stronger but shorter than 3rd, which is length of longest dorsal spine. Caudal forked. Lat. 1. 47, lat, tr. r 7 r . Colour (of preserved specimen), uniform grey, top of head darker and brown ; a narrow curved brown band across base of pectorals and a faint one across nape ; a dark brown spot on upper margin of each eye ; one or two curving dark lines on preorbital. One specimen, 294 mm. in length, from Mr. Romer Robinson, Natal. FAMILY SPARIDAE. GEN. LETHRINUS, Cuv. LETHRINUS CHRYSOSTOMUS, Rich. Voy. Erebus and Terror, Fishes, p. 118, pi. 60, figs. 6 and 7, 1846. Teeth, 4 moderately strong canines on each jaw ; the lateral teeth on each jaw pointed in front but more or less rounded posteriorly, especially those of the upper jaw, the last one being very molar- like. Depth of body 2f times in total length excluding caudal, length of head 2i times. Snout 2f times diameter of eye, which is 4f- times in length of head and H times in interorbital width ; cleft of mouth lateral, maxillary scarcely extends to vertical of anterior nostril and is concealed by preorbital, the height of the latter b^ing twice the diameter of the eye; pi'eoperculum entire, the angle rounded ; operculum with 2 blunt inconspicuous spines; a slight protuberance before upper anterior angle of orbits. Dorsal x 9 ; spines strong, increasing in length to 3rd or 4th, which is ^ length of head ; longest soft rays nearly f length of head. Pectorals as long as head, anterior rays longest and reaching beyond origin of anal. Ventrals f length of head, reaching to anal. Anal iii 8 ; 3rd spine longest, about -^ longest spine of dorsal. Caudal emarginate, scaly on base. Lat. 1. 47, lat. tr. /y . Colour (of preserved specimen), brown, silvery beneath ; scales, especially on upper part of the body, with a black centre forming longitudinal streaks on the body; fins whitish. One specimen, 336 mm. in length, from Mr. Romer Robinson, Natal. 70 Annals of the South African Museum. GEN. CYPHOSUS, Lacep. CYPHOSUS CINERASCENS, Forsk. Descr. Anim., No. GO, p. 53, 1775. Teeth, a single row of flat cutting teeth, their horizontal portion longer than their vertical ; minute rounded teeth on vomer and palatines. Depth of body 2^ times in total length excluding caudal, length of head 4^ times. Snout l^y times diameter of eye, which is 3 times in length of head and 1^- times in inter- orbital width ; maxillary reaches to vertical of anterior margin of eye ; preoperculum feebly serrated at angle, which is rounded ; body oblong, compressed, a slight swelling in front of orbits ; snout obtuse. Dorsal xi 14 ; spines flexible, increasing in length to 5th, which is ^ length of head and about same length as longest soft ray. Pectorals f length of head and about same length as venti'als. Anal iii 13 ; 3rd spine longest, a little more than ^ length of longest dorsal spine and ^ as long as longest soft ray of anal; both anal and soft dorsal are covered with small scales. Caudal forked. Lat. 1. 64, lat. tr. i-g- ; 17 scales between lateral line and ventral, 10 between lateral line and 6th spine of dorsal. Colour (of preserved specimen), light olive-brown, darker above than below ; a dark line between each row of scales ; fins darkish ; a light band below eye. One specimen, 228 mm. in length, from Mr. Romer Robinson, Natal. FAMILY TEACHINIDAE. GEN. LATILUS, G. & V. LATILUS DOLIATUS, C. & V. Hist. Nat. Poiss. v. p. 371, 1830. Teeth, a series of sharp-pointed teeth, with 4 canines at sym- physis and a posterior canine on each side of upper jaw, and 2 posterior canines on each side of lower jaw. Depth of body 3? times in total length excluding caudal, length of head 4 times. Snout as long as eye, which is prominent, placed high in the head, and is 2f times in length of head ; interorbital width |- diameter of eye. Profile of head flat on top, rounded before orbits and descend- Descriptions of Fishes from the Coast of Natal. 71 ing abruptly to end of snout ; a ridge on nape from above centre of orbits to origin of dorsal ; preorbital depth f diameter of eye ; preoperculum finely serrated on its vertical limb and on the rounded angle ; cleft of mouth slightly oblique, maxillary reaches to vertical of anterior margin of eye. Dorsal vi 16 ; commences above base of pectorals, spinous por- tion lower than soft ; posterior soft rays longest, length of head, the 14th ray prolonged and nearly 1J- times as high as adjacent rays. Pectorals falcate, reaching to anal, the 6th ray longest and as long as head. Ventrals i as long as head, not reaching to vent. Anal ii 12 ; rays increasing in length to the penultimate, which is about f length of head. Caudal emarginate, a little more than f length of head. Scales ciliated, extending over opercles and cheeks, and on top of head as far as the centre of the orbits. Lat. 1. 102, lat. tr. ./,,. Colour (of preserved specimen), reddish ; 15 dark brown bands across upper part of body ; a black opercular spot. One specimen, 198 mm. in length, procured by the Cape Govern- ment trawler P. Faure (s.) off the Natal coast, in 50 frns. ; Tugela Eiver mouth, N. 19^ miles. FAMILY BATBACHIDAE. GEN. BATBACHUS, Klein. BATRACHUS APIATUS, C. & V. Hist. Nat. Poiss. xii. p. 477, 1837. Teeth in 3 rows on each jaw anteriorly, a single series laterally, the teeth on mandibles largest and directed a little inwards ; an irregular double row on vomer, a single series on palatines. Depth of body 5J times in total length excluding caudal, length of head 3 T 3 ,j times. Longitudinal diameter of eye 4^ times in length of head, and equal to snout, which is broad, depressed, and surmounted by short tentacles which are most distinct along the mandibles ; vertical diameter of eye 5f times in length of head and equal to the width of the bony ridge between the orbits, maxillary reaches to vertical of posterior margin of eye, lower jaw projects ; no tentacles above the orbits ; 4 backwardly directed spines on gill-covers, situated 2 on the operculum and 2 on sub-operculum ; anterior nostril with a tubular flap ending in a bunch of filaments; head with loose folds of skin on nape. 72 Annals of the South African Museum. Dorsal iii 20; 1st dorsal triangular, middle spine length of head; soft dorsal higher than spinous, longest rays about J length of head. Pectorals f length of head, reaching to anal ; no foramen in the axil. Ventrals f length of head. Anal 14. Caudal truncate. A series of pores along the hody, with a slight vertical fold of skin on each. Colour (of preserved specimen), yellowish, dotted with faint dark spots and with 3 or 4 faint dark cross-bands ; tips of dorsal and anal r~ays brown ; pectorals spotted with brown in irregular cross bands. One specimen, 142 mm. in length, procured by the Cape Govern- ment trawler P. Faure (s.) off the Natal coast, in 54 fins. ; Port Natal, W. by N. 6^ miles. BATRACHUS DIEMENSIS, Lesueuv. Journ. Acad. Nat. Sc. Philad. iii. p. 402, 1823. Teeth in 3 rows anteriorly on each jaw, a single series laterally; a band on vomer and palatines. Depth of body 4 times in total length excluding caudal, length of head 2f- times; head broad, its width nearly equalling its length. Longitudinal diameter of eye 3 times in length of head, vertical diameter 3f times length of head and 1J times as long as snout ; width of bony ridge between the the eyes narrow, 8| times in length of head ; maxillary reaches to vertical of middle of eyes, lower jaw projects ; no tentacles above the orbits ; gill-covers with 4 spines, 2 of which belong to the oper- culum and 2 to the sub-operculum ; anterior nostrils with a bunch of filaments on each ; no tentacles on snout, which is short, obtuse, and its upper border parabolic ; a row of large open pores along lower edge of mandibles, on preorbital, across opercles, and round orbits. Dorsal iii 20; 1st dorsal triangular, middle spine nearly -^ length of head. Pectorals |- length of head, reaching to anal, no foramen in the axil. Ventrals with outer ray much longer than inner, taper- ing, J length of head. Anal 16. Caudal truncate. Loose folds of skin on head and cheeks, and on the body, especially along base of anal fin. Colour (of preserved specimen), brown ; spinous dorsal dark, with a dark patch on anterior soft rays ; pectorals covered with minute dark spots forming irregular bars. One specimen, 45 mm. in length, procured by the Cape Govern- ment trawler P. Faure (s.) off the Natal coast, in 50 fms. ; Umhlangakulu Eiver, NW. by N. 7J miles. Descriptions of Fixing from ///<' Const of Natal. 73 FAMILY PEDICULATI. GEN. LOPHIUS, L. LOPHIUS UPSICEPHALUS, Smith. Illustr. Zool. S. Afr. p. 9, pi. 9, 1849. Teeth arranged in 2 alternate series ; a minute patch on vomer, with a strong tooth on each side ; a single series of strong, slightly recurved teeth on palatines. Head disproportionately large, de- pressed, broad and flat. Depth of body 2|- times in total length excluding caudal, length of head 1^ times ; width of head nearly -,'77 its length. Snout l^t- times as long as eye, which is 6f times in length of head and about equals the interorbital width ; lower jaw projects beyond upper, cleft of mouth wide and reaches to vertical of anterior margin of eye, upper lip fringed with a row of cirri, lower lip with a fringe of branched filaments ; 4 strong spines on pre- orbital, 2 on each side of symphysis of jaw; orbital ridge with coarse serrations, with a strong spine behind posterior upper angle of each orbit ; a short, strong, upright spine on preoperculum ; a strong humeral spine with 3 points ; a spine on top of head on each side. Dorsal iii + iii 8 ; the first 3 spines distinct and situated on the head ; the 1st consists of a simple filament, T % length of head, terminating in a few cirri and a long simple flap, and is inserted just behind the lip ; the 2nd spine rises close behind it and is longer, nearly ? length of head, with a row of soft spines on its anterior margin, and with short stalks or filaments branching off the main stem ; the 3rd spine is about the same height as the 1st and is inserted midway between the posterior margin of dorsal fin and 2nd spine, which latter it resembles, but the branches are fewer and less developed ; the 4th spine is a little more than f length of head, originates in line with base of humeral spine, and is a little apart from but connected by a low membrane with the remaining 2 spines. Pectorals length of head, the carpal bones being much produced form a sort of arm to the fin. Ventrals about same length as pectorals. Anal 6 ; posterior rays longest and about )- length of head. Caudal truncate, nearly ^ length of head. Colour (of preserved specimen), light yellowish brown, with a few small dark spots ; membrane of the 3 posterior spines of dorsal blackish. 74 Annals of the South African Museum. One specimen, 77 mm. in length, procured by the Cape Govern- ment trawler P. Faure (s.) off the Natal coast, in 54 fms. ; Cape Natal, W. by N. 6 miles. FAMILY COTTIDAE. GEN. HOPLICHTHYS, Giinth. HOPLICHTHYS LANGSDOBFI, C. & V. Hist. Nat. Poiss. iv. p. 264, pi. 81, 1829. Teeth, a narrow band of minute villiform teeth on each jaw and on vomer and palatines. Depth of body 3^ to 3f times in total length excluding caudal, length of head 3 to 3^- times ; width of head between base of preopercular spines 3i to 4 times. Head greatly flattened; snout wide, produced, and rounded anteriorly. 3 to 3| times in length of head; diameter of eye 4 to 4^ times in length of head ; interorbital space very narrow, deeply channelled ; mouth inferior, the lower jaw shorter than upper, everywhere in- cluded; maxillary reaches to vertical of anterior margin of eye. Lateral profile of head formed by a sharp dentigerous ridge divided into 4 lobes, in each of which the posterior spine is longest and strongest ; preoperculum strongly produced at the angle where it terminates in a strong sharp spine, vertical margin marked by a double ridge with strong serrations ; opercle with 2 strong ridges radiating from its upper angle, each armed with strong serrations and ending in a strong opercular spine ; a strong humeral spine ; orbital ridge strongly and coarsely serrated ; occiput with a sharp spine pointing backwards, and with a cluster of 3 smaller spines anteriorly on each side of nape. Dorsal vi 15 ; 1st dorsal longest anteriorly, its 1st spine strongest and about 1 length of head; 2nd dorsal higher than the 1st and with the rays slightly filamentous. Pectorals 13 + 3 ; with 3 simple rays almost free but joined to each other and to the rest of the fin by a very low membrane at the extreme base ; upper rays filamentous, f length of head. Ventrals a little more than f length of head, inserted in advance of pectorals. Anal 17 ; similar to soft dorsal. Body naked with the exception of a single series of large lateral plates, 27 in number, which extend over the greater part of the back and sides from occiput to caudal ; each plate is armed at its inner angle with a strong backward-pointing spine, with '2 much smaller ones below it. Descriptions of Fishes from the Coast of Nnf///. 75 Colour (of preserved specimens), light yellowish brown; a black ocellus on membrane of 1st dorsal from 2nd to 4th spines ; 2 dark patches crossing the back through posterior extremity of soft dorsal ; ends of pectoral rays dark ; caudal with 2 or 3 faint dai'k bars. Three specimens, 56 mm., 109 mm., 143 mm. in length respectively, procured by the Cape Government trawler P. Fanre (s.) off the coast of Natal, in 63 fms. ; Tugela River mouth N. 22 miles. GEN. LEPIDOTRIGLA, Giinth. LEPIDOTKIGLA PAUBEI, n. sp. Teeth in narrow villiform bands on jaws and vomer. Depth of body 4 to 4^ times in total length excluding caudal, length of head 3^ to 3^ times. Snout slightly elongate, feebly concave, 1^ to 1 times diameter of eve, which is 3^ to 3| times in length of head and If times interorbital width ; space between orbits concave, super- ciliary ridges strong, with 2 small spines at supero-anterior angle of orbit and with a deep groove behind each orbit ; preorbital project- ing feebly beyond snout, with 2 strong spines on each side anteriorly ; preoperculum striated and granulated, angle feebly produced and jagged but without distinct spines ; operculum striated, with a strong spine ; a strong humeral spine ; suprascapula with serrated upper margin and a ridge ending in a strong spine ; maxillary reaches vertical of anterior margin of eye. Dorsal viii 16, the first 3 or first 2 spines serrated anteriorly ; 3rd spine longest, T 7 ^ length of head and equal to the distance between point of snout and posterior margin of eye. Pectorals 11 + 3, 1 to 1^ times length of head and reaching to vertical from 5th or 6th anal ray. Ventrals f length of head. Anal 16, situated below soft dorsal, of equal length but lower. Caudal deeply emarginate, f to | length of head. Scales of moderate size, with spines on their free margin. Twenty-three spines along base of dorsal fin. Lat. 1. '-t S 1 60-61, with radiating tubes but without armature. Lat. tr. ' ^ . Colour (of preserved specimens), uniform pale yellow, or grey with a green tinge on head and spinous dorsal ; pectorals dark underneath, with or without diagonal rows of dark ocelli near base. Three specimens, procured by the Cape Government trawler P. Fanre (s.) off Natal coast; 1 of 120 mm. in length, in 40 fms., Tugela River mouth N. by W. \V. lyi miles; 2 of 120 mm. and 146 mm. in length respectively, Tugela River mouth N. 22 miles, in 63 fms. 76 Annals of the Sonth, African Musewft. LEPIDOTRIGLA NATALENSIS, n. sp. Teeth in villiform bands on jaws and vomer. Depth of body SjL times in total length excluding caudal, length of head 3^ times. Snout elongate, upper profile straight, 1| times diameter of eye, which is 3f times in length of head and 1^ times interorbital width ; space between orbits concave, superciliary ridges strong with 2 inconspicuous spines at supero-anterior angle of orbits and with a short deep groove behind each orbit ; preorbital flattened, truncated anteriorly and armed with a row of strong spines on the margin ; preoperculum radiated and striated, with a small flat inconspicuous spine at the angle ; operculum radiated and striated, with a strong spine ; a strong humeral ridge ending in a spine ; suprascapula serrated on its upper margin, with a prominent ridge ending in a strong spine, and with a short detached ridge between it and the orbit ; maxillary reaches to vertical of anterior margin of eye. Dorsal ix 17, first 3 spines serrated anteriorly ; 3rd spine longest, f length of head and equal to the distance between point of snout and posterior margin of eye. Pectorals 11 + 3, 1^ times length of head, reaching to vertical from 5th anal ray. Ventrals -J length of head. Anal 15, situated below soft dorsal, of equal length but lower. Caudal emarginate, T 7 n length of head. Scales cycloid, large. Twenty-four prominent spines along base of dorsal fin. Lat. 1. 58, with radiating tubes but no armature, the scales larger than on rest of the body. Lat. tr. g. Colour (of preserved specimen), uniform grey ; pectorals dark underneath. One specimen, 130 mm. in length, procured by the Cape Govern- ment trawler P. Faiire (s.) off the Natal coast, in 40 fms. ; Tugela Eivev mouth N. by W. JW. 16 miles. GEN. TRIGLA, L. TRIGLA NATALENSIS, n. sp. Teeth in villiform bands on jaws and vomer. Depth of body 5^ times in total length excluding caudal, length of head 3^ times. Snout elongate, slightly concave, lj?- times diameter of eye, which is 3^ times in length of head and nearly twice the interorbital width, the space between the orbits concave ; preorbital obtuse anteriorly, granulated and striated, with a ridge across to the preopercular angle which ends in a short spine ; opercular spine feeble ; a strong Descriptions of Fishes from the Coast of Natal. 77 humeral spine; suprascapula with a strong granular ridge ending in a blunt spine and with a small detached ridge between it and the orbit ; 2 strong spines on supero-anterior angle of orbits ; maxillary reaches scarcely to vertical of anterior margin of eye. Dorsal ix 15; first 3 spines tubercular ; 2nd spine longest, a little more than | length of head and equal to the distance between anterior nostril and posterior margin of eye. Pectorals 10 + 3, a little longer than head, reaching to vertical from the 5th ray of anal. Ventrals a little more than f head, reaching to anal. Anal 15, situated below soft dorsal and of same length, but not so high. Caudal emarginate, i length of head. Scales very small, cycloid. Twenty-five spines along base of dorsal fin. Lat. 1. 65. (The lateral line on the right side of this specimen bifurcates about the middle of the caudal peduncle, one branch passing upwards and backwards to the median line of the back at the caudal.) Colour (of preserved specimen), pale greyish brown, slightly darker above than below, head with a reddish tinge ; pectorals dark brown underneath on the upper portion and pale yellow on the lower, with a few small ocellated spots ; caudal and ventrals yellowish, dorsal whitish. One specimen, 204 mm. in length, procured by the Cape Govern- ment trawler P. Faure (s.) off the Natal coast, in 48 fms. ; Cape Natal W. by N. 6| miles. TBIGLA CAPENSIS, G. & V. Hist. Nat. Poiss. iv. p. 53, 1829. Teeth in villiform bands on jaws and vorner. Depth of body 5 to 5| times in total length excluding caudal, length of head 3~^ to 3^ times. Snout elongate, upper profile straight, about twice diameter of eye, which is 4 times in length of head and If to 1^ times interorbital width, the space between the orbits concave ; preorbital produced anteriorly and ending in about 4 prominent points or spines, with a keel along the lower margin extending across pre- operculum to the angle where it ends in 2 spines, one at the angle and a shorter diverging one just below it, many radiations branch upwards from a point about midway along this keel or ridge ; operculum with a sharp strong spine ; suprascapula with a strong spine and with a short detached ridge between it and the orbit ; 2 spines on supero-anterior angle of orbits; maxillary reaching to vertical of anterior margin of eye. Dorsal ix 16 ; 1st spine smooth or slightly granular ; 2nd spine 78 Annals of the South African Museum. longest, J to | length of head and slightly more than the distance between anterior nostril and angle of preoperculum. Pectorals 11 + 8, 1 to 1^ length of head, reaching to the vertical from 6th or 7th ray of dorsal. Ventrals f to 1- length of head. Anal 16, similar to soft dorsal. Caudal ernarginate or slightly forked, T 7 ^ to f length of head. Scales very small, cycloid. Twenty-four to 25 spines along the base of dorsal fin. Lat. 1. 70-74, without armature, Colour (of preserved specimens), greyish, darker above than below ; pectorals blackish, with a few oval spots on the lower half. The smallest specimen was of a uniform light green, the fins except the pectorals being of a darker green ; the pectorals were blackish with a few white spots. One specimen, 104 mm. in length, from Durban, Natal. Three specimens, procured by the Cape Government trawler P. Faurc (s.) ; 1 of 234 mm. in length, from Inner Harbour, Durban ; 1 of 238 mm. in length, caught in 40 fms., Tugela River mouth N. by W.J W., 16 miles ; 1 of 254 mm. in length, caught in 46 fms., Tugela River mouth N. by W., 18 miles. TRIGLA PERONI, C. & V. Hist. Nat. Poiss. iv. p. 53, 1829. Teeth in narrow villiform bands on jaws and vomer. Depth of body 5 times in total length excluding caudal, length of head 3^ times. Snout elongate, upper profile nearly straight, l- times diameter of eye, which is 3f times in length of head and nearly twice interorbital width; space between the orbits concave; pre- orbital strongly striated and produced anteriorly into 2 broad plates slightly projecting beyond snout, each with about 4 obtuse points and some fine serrations, a keel or ridge extends along the lower margin across preopercle to the angle of the latter where it is toothed or roughened and ends in a sharp spine with a smaller diverging spine below it ; opercle with a sharp spine ; a strong sharp humeral spine ; suprascapula with a strong spine ; orbital ridge strongly marked, with 2 strong spines at supero-anterior angle of eye, the posterior angle bluntly produced and crenellated ; maxillary reaches to vertical of anterior margin of eye. Dorsal ix 16 ; 1st spine smooth, about the same length as 2nd, which is \ length of head and equals the distance between anterior nostril and angle of preoperculum. Pectorals 114-3; \\ times length of head and reaching to vertical from 7th ray of dorsal. Ventrals about as long as head, reaching to anal. Anal 16, similar Descriptions of Fishes from the Coast of Natal. 79 to soft dorsal. Caudal truncate, f length of head. Scales small, cycloid. A series of 24 spines along each side of base of dorsal tins. Lat. 1. 65, without armature. Colour (of preserved specimen), light or pale reddish brown, with a few small dark specks on body ; pectorals black, with indistinct whitish spots ; ventrals and tip of spinous dorsal blackish ; distal extremity of caudal blackish. One specimen, 74 mm. in length, from Mr. Eomer Eobinson, Natal. FAMILY SCOMBKID.E. GEN. ECHENEIS, L. ECHENEIS NAUCRATES, L. Syst. Nat. 10th ed., p. 261, 1758. Teeth, mandible pointed and covered superiorly with rows of villiform teeth directed backwards and forming a more or less triangular toothed space in advance of the upper jaw, which latter is pointed; a similar band of villiform teeth in upper jaw; a band on vomer and palatines ; a curved row on tongue. Depth of body Ill- times in total length excluding caudal, breadth of body between pectorals 8|- times; length of head, with disk nearly 3?- times, without disk 5^ times ; width of head nearly i its length. Eyes transversely oval, directed obliquely outwards and downwards, distance apart superiorly 3^ diameters from end of snout, Lnferiorly 3f diameters; 9 times in length of head with disk. Lower jaw longer than upper, maxillary reaches to vertical of 3rd lamina of disk. Dorsal xxiii 37 ; 1st dorsal forming an elliptical disk rather broader posteriorly than anteriorly, its greatest width nearly f its length, which is nearly 4 times in total length excluding caudal ; 23 trans- verse laminae, each with a toothed posterior margin, the teeth being in 3 rows, a smooth elevation dividing the disk along the central line ; the anterior laminae are directed slightly forwards, the succeeding ones nearly transverse, the posterior directed slightly backwards ; external to the disk is a moderately wide fleshy membrane, which posteriorly extends to the distal half of the pectorals and anteriorly does not quite reach point of snout. The 2nd dorsal is situated opposite the anal, commencing midway 80 Annals of the South African Museum. between point of snout and base of caudal ; highest anteriorly, about | length of disk. Pectorals f length of disk, situated behind head in line with 19th lamina of disk. Ventrals f length of disk, equal to the distance between point of snout and posterior margin of eye. Anal 37; similar to soft dorsal but higher anteriorly, Caudal with emarginations, nearly |- length of disk. Colour (of preserved specimen), uniform reddish brown ; external margin of caudal and anterior tips of dorsal and anal edged with white ; pectorals deep brown ; centre of caudal nearly black. One specimen, 348 mm. in length, from Durban Museum. FAMILY GOBIID^E. GEN. GOBIUS, L. GOBIUS OBSCURUS, Peters. Wiegm. Arch. 1855, p. 250. Teeth small, villiform, outer row slightly enlarged ; no canines. Depth of body 5 times in total length excluding caudal, length of head 3i to 3f times; height of head % its breadth, which is con- tained 1-jL to 1| times in its length. Snout slightly convex, 11 to 1'2- times diameter of eye, which occupies the 2nd quarter of length of head, is 1 to If times interorbital width and 3 times in length of head ; cleft of mouth slightly oblique, maxillary reaches to below anterior margin of eye and does not ascend to the level of the eye ; lips thick, the upper slightly overhanging lower. Dorsal vi, i 8-9; 2nd spine of 1st dorsal longest, nearly ^ to ^ length of head ; soft rays longest posteriorly, 1^ to 1^ height of longest spine. Pectorals 4 length of head, reaching to anus, the upper rays silk-like. Ventrals about same length as pectorals. Anal i 8 ; similar to soft dorsal but not quite as high. Caudal wedge-shaped, i length of head Scales feebly ctenoid, extending on to crown of head ; 16 anterior to 1st dorsal, 14 between origin of 2nd dorsal and anal. Lat. 1. 38. Colour (of preserved specimens), pale brown, with dark spots on body ; dorsal, anal and caudal with small dark spots ; a dark spot at upper angle of axil of pectorals. Two specimens, 44 mm. 80 mm. in length respectively, from Mr, Eomer Robinson, Natal. Descriptions of Fishes from the Coast of Natal. 81 GOBIUS MALABABICUS, Day. Proc. Zool. Lond. 1865, p. 27; Fishes Malab. p. Ill, pi. 7, fig. 2, 1865. Teeth in a villiform band, the outer row enlarged and strong ; no canines. Depth of body nearly 5 times in total length excluding caudal, length of head 3J times ; height of head about ^ its width, which is contained 1^ times in its length. Snout slightly longer than 1 the eye, which is 4f times in length of head and 1^ times interorbital width ; cleft of mouth oblique, lower jaw longer than upper, maxillary extends to below middle of eye. Head naked, 2 rows of pores or warts on each side of lower jaw and many rows on cheeks. Dorsal vi, i 10 ; 2nd and 3rd spines of 1st dorsal highest, nearly \ length of head, and about same height as posterior rays of 2nd dorsal, which is lower anteriorly, the rays gradually increasing in length. Pectorals i length of head, scarcely reaching anal. Ventrals ? length of head, not reaching vent. Anal i 10 ; similar to soft dorsal but lower. Caudal rounded, 5^ times in total length. Lat. 1. 50. Sixteen rows of scales between bases of 2nd dorsal and anal fins, 10 rows anterior to 1st dorsal fin. Colour (of preserved specimen), brown, with dark irregular spots on body and head ; dorsals with a light band running along lower third of each fin, with a row of dark spots above and below it; pectorals with a dark curved band on upper half and a dark crescentic band with a white upper border on lower part of fin stretching across base of first 7 or 8 rays. One specimen, 73 mm. in length, from Mr. Homer Robinson, Natal. GEN. PBRIOPTHALMUS, Bl. Schn. PERIOPHTHALMUS KOELREUTEBI (Pall.). Spic. Zool. viii. p. 8, pi. 2, fig. 1, 1769. Teeth strong, conical, pointed. Depth of body 5 to 6 times in total length excluding caudal, length of head 4 to 4^ times ; width of head f to f its length. Snout 1| to 1^ times as long as eye, profile very abrupt, the skin forming fleshy flaps ; eyes very prominent, situated on upper margin of head, diameter 4 times in length of head and twice the interorbital width, outer eyelid well developed ; cleft of mouth almost horizontal, upper lip slightly over- 7 82 Annals of the South African Museum. hangs lower, maxillary extends to below vertical of anterior third of eye. Dorsal xvi-xvii 11-12 ; anterior rays of 1st dorsal longest and about | length of head ; 2nd dorsal not as high as 1st. Pectorals f length of head, with a long, scaly, muscular base. Ventrals very small, almost entirely separated from each other. Anal 12. Caudal with its lower edge obliquely truncated. Scales 75-80. Colour (of preserved specimens), greyish or bluish brown ; lower half of dorsal fins with numerous white spots, above them on the 1st dorsal is a dark band or patch deeper on anterior rays near to and parallel with the whitish margin of the fin ; on the 2nd dorsal the band is narrow, brown, and edged with white above and below ; anal fin whitish. Two of the specimens have indistinct brown cross-bars, and many silvery specks on body. Two specimens, 66 mm. 78 mm. in length respectively, from Mr. Eomer Eobinson, Natal. Two specimens, 66 mm. 72 mm. in length respectively, from Durban Bay. GEN. TEYPAUCHEN, C. & V. TRYPAUCHEN VAGINA (Bl. & Schn.). Syst. Ichth. p. 73, No. 20, 1801. Teeth, an outer row of rather distantly placed, moderately long, conical, feebly curved teeth on either jaw, behind which is a single series of small teeth on the upper jaw and 2 rows on the lower. Depth of body 8 to 8| times in total length excluding caudal, length of head 61 to 6| times. Body elongated, compressed; occipital crest elevated ; width of head f to T 7 o its length, height slightly more than its length behind the eyes. Snout 3f to 3f times in length of head and 3 times diameter of eye, which is very small and situated in anterior fourth of head ; interorbital width 1 times diameter of eye; cleft of mouth oblique, lower jaw longer than upper, maxillary reaches to vertical of anterior margin of eye. Dorsal vi 43-46 ; commences a little behind pectorals, spines and rays about ^ length of head, posterior rays filamentous. Pectorals T 3 5 length of head, the lower 5 rays short and unbranched. Ventrals a little longer than pectorals. Anal 44-46, similar to soft dorsal. Caudal pointed. Dorsal and anal fins confluent with caudal. Scales 70, cycloid, striated, in rather irregular rows, lightest at their edge and sometimes depressed in their centre. Descriptions of Fishes from the Coast of Natal. 83 Colour (of preserved specimens), uniform flesh-colour ; fins whitish. Two specimens, 83 mm. 114 mm. in length respectively, procured by the Cape Government trawler P. Faurc (s.) in 12-14 fms., off South Head of Tugela River, Natal. FAMILY MUGILIDAE. GEN. MYXUS, Giinth. MYXUS BABNAKDI, n. Sp. Teeth fine, villiform, in a single series on each jaw, those of the upper jaw overlapping those of the lower; a narrow cross band on vomer. Depth of body 3f times in total length excluding caudal, length of head 3 times. Snout as long as diameter of eye, moderately depressed, its upper profile ascending in the same curve in which the lower descends ; eye with an adipose lid more strongly developed anteriorly than posteriorly, diameter of eye 4| times in length of head and If times in interorbital width, which is slightly convex ; preorbital serrated inferiorly and posteriorly ; nostrils as far apart as they are distant from the eye and snout respectively ; cleft of mouth f as deep as broad, slightly oblique, upper lip overlapping lower which is sharp-edged ; maxillary scarcely reaching vertical of anterior margin of eye, concealed ; mandibles meet at an obtuse angle, notched at symphysis ; uncovered space below the chin lanceolate. Dorsal iv, i 8, commences midway between front edge of eye and base of caudal ; 1st spine of anterior dorsal longest and strongest, about | length of head ; base of 2nd dorsal f its height, which about equals that of longest spine of 1st dorsal. Pectorals inserted above middle of depth of body and reaching to vertical of origin of 1st dorsal fin, f length of head. Ventrals inserted in vertical of midway between base of pectorals and origin of dorsal fin. Anal iii 8 ; having its anterior half situated before origin of 1st dorsal, 3rd spine f length of longest spine of dorsal. Depth of free portion of tail 3i times in length of head. Lat. 1. 41, lat. tr. 15; 23 rows of scales between snout and origin of 1st dorsal fin ; the llth and 23rd scales of the lateral line correspond to the origin of the 1st and 2nd dorsal fins ; no enlarged axillary scale ; vertical fins not scaly. Colour (of preserved specimen), silvery, dark above ; scales with 84 Annals of the South African Museum. dark streaks on centre, forming indistinct longitudinal lines on the body ; top of head and snout covered with minute dark brown specks. One specimen, 47 in length, from Durban Bay ; K. H. Barnard. FAMILY CHIASMODONTIDAE. GEN. CHAMPSODON, Giinth. CHAMPSODON CAPENSIS, Began. Trans. Linn. Soc. Lond. Zool. xii. p. 244, 1908. Fine, curved, villiform teeth on each jaw; a patch on vomer, some of the teeth on each side anteriorly being enlarged ; tongue strongly toothed, Depth of body 5f to 6 times in total length excluding caudal, length of head 3^ to 4 times ; depth of head about f its length. Snout 3^ to 4 times in length of head, distance from tip of snout to end of maxillary about length of head ; eye 4|- to 5 times in length of head, situated in a notch of the upper profile, with one or two filaments on the eyeball at its superior posterior angle, least distance between eye and maxillary much less than diameter of eye ; interorbital width about ^ diameter of eye, feebly con- cave, with 2 rows of pores down the centre ; cleft of mouth exceedingly wide, about f length of head and extending beyond posterior margin of eye, lower jaw projecting and bent upwards ; praemaxillaries with a double notch anteriorly ; preoperculum with a few fine serrations on vertical limb, angle armed with a strong lanceolate spine curving upwards ; opercular margin very thin, fringed and striated ; preorbital with 2 sharp diverging spines on anterior margin ; a ridge from snout passing along upper margin of each orbit and across nape to suprascapula, where it ends in a small spine ; one or two detached ridges on head behind eye. Dorsal v 18-20 ; spines of 1st dorsal feeble, slightly filamentous, highest anteriorly and about f to length of head ; soft dorsal higher than spinous, rays slightly filamentous. Pectorals small, f length of head. Ventrals | length of head, reaching to vent, 3rd and 4th branched rays longest and considerably higher than the 1st. Anal 17, similar to soft dorsal. Caudal truncate, about length of head. Scales small, strongly toothed on their posterior margin ; covering Descriptions of Fishes from tlie Coast of Natal. 85 the whole body, head, maxillary, cheeks, and opercles ; 2 lateral lines marked by rows of pores and both provided with 24 vertical branches, also marked by a row of pores and passing over the back. Colour (of preserved specimens), light brown, darker above than below ; a dark patch on base of caudal. Three specimens, 76 mm. 70 mm. 64 mm. in length respectively, procured by the Cape Government trawler P. Faure (s.) off the Natal coast; the two larger in 46 fms., Tugela Eiver mouth N. by W. 18 miles, the smallest in 54 fms., Cape Natal W. by N. 6| miles. FAMILY CENTRISCIDAE. GEN. CENTEISCUS, L. CENTEISCUS HUMEROSUS, Eich. Voy. Erebus and Terror, Fishes, p. 56, pi. 34, figs. 5 and 6, 1846. (Trumpet-fish, Bellows-fish.) Height of the body contained 1^ times in the distance of the operculum from the base of the caudal fin, the length of the head is slightly less than its distance from the caudal. Head elevated posteriorly, compressed into a ridge above and produced anteriorly into a long compressed tube terminating in a small mouth ; cleft of mouth oblique, extremity of lower jaw prominent, maxillary broad and triangular. Eye large, equals length of postocular part of head, the skin which covers the iris is provided with small ctenoid scales except on anterior portion ; margin of orbit smooth ; interorbital space smooth, slightly convex, nearly f diameter of eye in width ; nostrils close together, situated one before the other at a short distance from the orbit; preoperculum with its posterior margin descending obliquely forward, partly confluent with orbit, and indistinctly denticulated or roughened, the angle strongly produced backwards. The scales advance very far on the rostral tube. The body is strongly compressed and much elevated, its greatest depth is above the ventrals ; the upper profile makes a slight bulge on the nape, behind which is a patch of bristles, and then ascends gradually to dorsal fin, descending abruptly from 2nd spine to the free portion of the tail ; lower profile of body semicircular between throat and end of anal fin. 86 Annals of the South, African Museum. Dorsal vii 14 ; 1st spine minute, its distance from caudal fin | its distance from occiput ; 2nd spine very strong, compressed, striated, grooved along posterior margin and movable, its length equals \ distance of opercle from caudal, and the spine points obliquely upwards and backwards ; the remaining spines are short and their connecting membrane strong. Soft dorsal higher than long, its distance from caudal equals f the length of its base ; anterior rays highest. Pectorals with a short oblique base, inserted about the middle of the depth of the body and extending almost to end of ventrals. Ventral fins small, close together and received into a common groove on the belly. Anal 17 ; commences immediately behind vent in the vertical from the posterior spines of dorsal and extends as far back as posterior margin of soft dorsal, but is much lower. Caudal truncate, composed of 9 undivided rays, the others on the upper and lower side of its base being rudimentary. Body covered with small rough scales, each of which ends in a weak spine posteriorly ; 2 series of bony plates on the sides of the back, each of 4 plates which have a centre with vertical and horizontal stripes radiating from it ; the lower series commences in the scapulary region, the upper runs in a parallel line above it. Margin of thorax cuirassed with 3 similar plates, the belly with a single series ; edge of thorax and belly sharp. Colour (of preserved specimen), yellowish brown, slightly darker above than below. One specimen, 197 mm. in length, from Durban Museum. FAMILY LABRIDAE. GEN. PLATYGLOSSUS, Klein. PLATYGLOSSUS ROBINSONI, n. sp. Teeth, a posterior canine, 4 strong canines at symphysis of each jaw, slightly curved and directed a little outwards. Depth of body 3f times in total length excluding caudal, length of head 4 times. Snout 2|- times in length of head and lyV times diameter of eye, which is nearly 5 times in length of head and about li times in interorbital width ; jaws about equal ; maxillary reaches to vertical of anterior nostril. Dorsal ix 13 ; spines weak, slightly increasing in length to the last which is a little more than f length of head ; soft rays gradually Descriptions of Fishes from the Coast of Natal. 87 increasing in length from the last spine, the longest ray being f length of head. Pectorals nearly f length of head. Ventrals a little more than - length of head. Anal iii 12, similar to soft dorsal ; 3rd spine longest, f length of longest spine of dorsal. Caudal with the outer lohes slightly produced, the posterior margin of fin enclosed between them being rounded in the middle. Lat. 1. 27, lat. tr. f ; tubes of lateral line strongly marked and radiate. Scales comparatively large, cycloid ; 2 rows of scales on the cheeks, the rest of the head naked. Colour (of preserved specimen), uniform yellowish brown ; dorsal fin with a black oval spot at the base of the membrane between 1st and 2nd spines, and with a dark basal band, the upper edge of which is emarginate and edged with a narrow pale yellow border, a similar but narrower band occurs on the upper third of the fin, the distal margin of the fin is whitish, and there is a row of 8 or 9 small ocellated olive spots near the extremity of the posterior soft rays ; anal with 2 longitudinal bands similar to those on the dorsal fin ; caudal with curved transverse bands and reticulations ; 2 dark streaks from eye to mouth on each side, a dark streak across chin from one corner of the mouth to the other, 2 or 3 irregular dark streaks on the cheeks ; 2 more or less indistinct dark streaks from the preoperculum to the caudal, the upper one following the dorsal curve ; scales dark in the centre. One specimen, 133 mm. in length, from Mr. Eomer Eobinson, Natal. FAMILY GADIDAE. GEN. BREGMACEROS, Thomps. BREGMACEROS MACCLELLANDI, Thomps. Charlesw. Mag. Nat. Hist. iv. p. 184, fig., 1840. Teeth minute on both jaws, a few on vomer. Depth of body 7 times in total length excluding caudal, length of head about 6 times. Body fusiform, compressed posteriorly ; snout equals interorbital width, 4 times in length of head ; eye 3| times in length of head ; upper jaw slightly the longer, extending to behind vertical of centre of eye. Dorsal i, 16+ x +15 ; 1st dorsal rises on the occiput in the form of a single slender ray, which is slightly longer than the head and 88 Annals of the South African Museum. filamentous ; 2nd dorsal commences in the middle third of the total length and is highest in front, the 4th ray longest and about the length of the head, each ray is unbranched but articulated and slender, the membranes deeply notched, the last 10 rays are very short and slender, almost like a distinct fin, the posterior rays are lengthened and extend nearly to the base of the caudal. The dorsal and anal rays can be laid backwards in a groove formed by the scales along the base of these fins. Pectorals T 7 ]>ltnts the central teeth have remained tricuspid, and the lateral teeth may have come to resemble them by the inner portions of their bifid mesocones becoming separated to form small endocones similar to the ectocones. When the teeth in the radula are numerous and arranged in nearly straight transverse rows, it is evident that all those towards the centre will have very similar functions, and that the right and left sides of any one of these teeth will have much the same work to do ; and we might therefore be surprised if the central and lateral teeth did not tend to become like each other, the cusps of the laterals becoming more symmetrical. A parallel case occurs among the true Helices of Europe. Nearly all of these have bicuspid lateral teeth, though the mesocones are frequently bifid. But in Helix apcrta, Born, and H. subaperta, Ancey, the laterals are tricuspid, as in Trigonephrus, the inner portions of the mesocones having separated to form true endocones. The internal structure of the penis in most of the species reminds one of Wiegmann's figure of the penis of Papidna vitrea.* Some of the shells of Trigonephrus have long been a source of trouble to students. Miiller's originals of T. ylobulus, rosaceus, and Incanus are pre- served in the Copenhagen Museum. Drs. Nordmann and Jensen of that Museum have kindly compared specimens, furnished by myself, of the shells which usually pass under the above names in British collections with the originals, and have reported that globulus and lucanus, as generally known, are quite correctly identified, and that the rosaceus, though not exactly agreeing with the Type, is undoubtedly conspecific. This preliminary matter being determined, it is possible to prescribe means whereby the more puzzling forms may be dis- tinguished. The actual shape and size of the shell, and, to a less extent, the coloration and sculpture, may vary greatly in the same species; but, in a large array of material, I have failed, so far, to disprove the * Abh. Senckenb. Naturf. Ges., Frankfurt, 1898, xxiv. PI. XXXI, f. 8. Notes on South African Mollusca. 143 constancy of two features, namely, the colour of the peristome and the relative shape of the aperture. As regards the former, though exceptions may of course exist, I have never seen T. lucanus or namaquensis with any but a white peristome, nor good specimens of the remaining species, globulus, gypsinus, rosaceus, porphyrostoma and ambiguosus, with other than a deeply coloured one. With regard to the second point, we have what may he roughly divided into two forms of aperture, one drooping, the other out- standing. In T. globulus the upper end of the outer lip is com- paratively further away from the columella than in rosaceus, so that it forms with the body whorl an obtuse external angle of about 125, and imparts to the aperture a drooping appearance. In rosaceus the ends of the aperture appear to be comparatively nearer together, the outer lip consequently leaving the bod} 7 whorl at a much sharper angle of about 105, so that the aperture appears to be flatter and more outstanding. T. namaquensis has the drooping ylobulus aperture, while T. porphyrostoma and gypsinus have, more nearly, that of T. rosaceus. T. lucanus and ambiguosus form, of course, a separate group. Certain species of Trigoncplirus exhibit, under a strong lens, irregular patches of granular, or of a kind of close, incised, spiral sculpture. These are usually present where there is least malle- ation, but are of very partial and uncertain occurrence, and cannot, in my opinion, be regarded as constant factors in determining the specific position of a shell. TRIGONEPHKUS GLOBULUS (Miiller). (PL II, f. 1, 2. PI. IV, f. 1, 7, 9, 17, 27. PI. V, f. 1, 9.) 1774 Helix globulus, Miill., Verm. ii. p. 68. D. Shell large, globose, umbilicate, solid, translucent, early whorls red-lilac above, later violet-blue, with occasional whitish mottling and small dark spots, and a narrow infra-sutural white band ; under- part paler, almost white ; peristome, callus, and interior reddish purple. Spire somewhat produced, apex rounded. Whorls 5, rounded, regularly and rapidly increasing, the apical smooth, remainder covered with very fine, close, transverse striae, with irregular malleation on the upper part of the later whorls and occasional traces of microscopic spiral sculpture. Suture well denned, subcrenulate. Aperture quadrate-ovate ; peristome thick- I 1 I Annuls of tlie South African Museum. ened and somewhat reflexed, ends joined by a thin callus ; outer lip making with the body whorl an angle of about 125, and imparting a drooping appearance to the aperture. Columella erect, slightly concave, margin reflexed, partially concealing the narrow umbilicus. Dimensions of a typical specimen from Hout Bay : Alt. max. 32 - ; diam. 3O3 ; apert. 19'0x 15 - 7 mm. ; ends of peristome 15 mm. apart. Animal of a single full-grown specimen from Milnerton, the shell of which measured about 32 mm. in altitude. Colour drab, probably due to long immersion in alcohol ; roof of mantle-cavity unpigmented. Body-lobes indistinguishable, owing to the bad preservation of the specimen. Principal pulmonary vein giving off more numerous transverse branches than usual (see PI. IV., fig. 1, which also shows the form of the kidney, etc.). Cerebral ganglia covered with grey connective tissue. Jaw 2-9 mm. long, more curved than usual, reddish brown and of moderate thickness, with scarcely a trace of a median projection (PI. IV., fig. 17). Eadula 6^x3J mm.; transverse rows of teeth almost straight ; teeth relatively larger than in the allied species ; centrals very similar to the laterals ; outer marginals longer and narrower than usual, with single well-developed cusps (see PI. IV., fig. 9) ; formula (45 + 1 + 48) x 115. Eadula-sac projecting beyond the buccal mass (PI. IV., fig. 7). Eeproductive system (PL V., fig. 1) : hermaphrodite duct slender, with broader convolutions than in the other species; vesicula seminalis club-shaped, rather thick ; receptaculum seminis oval ; anterior third of receptacular duct swollen ; vagina short, somewhat swollen ; vas deferens curving a little further round the free oviduct than usual ; epiphallus longer than in the other species, being nearly one-third of the length of the penis ; posterior part of penis curved ; rugae on the longitudinal folds inside the penis diamond- shaped, being much narrower than in the remaining species (PI. IV., fig. 27). Hab. CAPE PROVINCE. Generally distributed along the coast from Algoa Bay (fide Layard) to St. Helena Bay ; Eobben and Dassen Islands. Type in Copenhagen Museum. A large sinistral specimen, collected by Craven on Eobben Island, is in the British Museum. The late E. L. Layard, through whose hands passed most of the * In order to avoid unnecessary repetition in describing the animals of the species, only those parts will be mentioned which have been found to differ in the various forms. Notes on South African Moil unco. 145 material sent home by the earlier collectors, left some valuable manuscript notes on the distribution of the Trigonephri, which, by Mr. Ponsonby's courtesy, I am enabled to publish. The record of T. (jlobulus on Green Point Common is remarkable, as the species is now unknown there, having been completely ousted by the introduced H. piscina, Mull. It will be noticed that Layard wrote in the days when only three species had been described, and he attributed every form to one or other of them, but this detracts but little from the interest of his notes, to which I shall have course to refer later. "Helix globulus, Mull. Various forms of this very variable shell are found on all sandy plains along the seaboard from Cape Agulhas to Walfisch Bay and Namaqualand. During the dry summer season they lie concealed, buried to a considerable depth in the sand, but on the fall of heavy rain they emerge from their retreats in thousands. I shall never forget my first sight of the living shells. I had found the sandy plain near Cape Town, known as Green Point, covered with the dead, bleached shells, but not a live one could I procure. Some friends even hinted at their being fossil and extinct, but I asserted they were too fresh-looking for that, and waited for the rains. They came, and I sallied out in the downpour, calling on an enthusiastic friend, C. A. P., to accompany me. On getting on to the Common, past the Battery, we found the surface of the ground literally heaving with the swarms coming up ! They were every- where ! We gathered our handkerchiefs full, and as they emit a most copious, clear slime, we were soon covered with the sand which adhered to it and wet from head to foot with the pitiless downpour, and presented a draggle-tailed spectacle ; but we agreed that the sight of tens of thousands, emerging from their long sleep, repaid us for all our dirt and discomfort. " The specimens found near Cape Town, Kalk Bay and the Cape Flats may be taken as of fair medium size. They are about 31 x 29 mm. On Eobben Island, a sandpatch in the mouth of Table Bay, there is a fine large variety, similar in colour, 38J x 40 mm. In Nord Hoek, not far from Kalk Bay, I took a small variety, fully formed shells varying from 25J x 19 J to 15x15 mm., shells purely white. In the George District there is a small variety, 19 x 19 mm., with a pale purple, or puce-coloured mouth. Another variety, prob- ably from Algoa Bay, rather larger, 27i x 25J mm., is much darker in the mouth, and the apex is also dark bluish purple. " These seem to lead into the large solid shell, with the broadly recurved, heavy, purple lip, from Namaqualand, named rosacea by 146 Annals of the South African Museum. Miiller. The transition is through a shell resembling the Eobben Island form, but with a rose-coloured lip and a general bluish-purple tint throughout, also found in Namaqualand. There are two forms of this, one globular, the other elongated, 44 x 38J mm. " There is yet another variety from Namaqualand, a small, stout, glossy form, 19-5x17 mm., of a pinkish colour, of which I have only seen two examples. " I am ignorant of the exact localities whence these varieties were severally procured ; they were brought out by the late James Chapman, who also procured a solid white variety in Ovampoland. " I suspect the coarse, solid shell of the variety called rosaceamust be meant as a protection against the great heat and drought of the locality where found. " The small purple-mouthed variety from George runs into one of the varieties of Helix lucana, Mull., from the same locality." The shell selected for description is of average size, from Hout Bay, Cape Peninsula, and the animal is taken from a similar specimen, which was broken for anatomical purposes. This solid, bluish-purple form is that which is now found alive all over the extreme south-western corner of the Cape Province, the largest Peninsula example which I have measured being : alt. max. 37'6 ; diarn. 33; apert. 23'4xl7'5 mm. ; and the smallest living one : alt. max. 25-7; diam. 25; apert. 15-7x12-2 mm. Whether this form is of comparatively recent growth from a smaller one, I cannot say; but in an old shell mound at Milner- ton are the subfossil remains of a smaller race, measuring about 22ix21| mm., and a somewhat similar variety is mentioned by Layard as existing, in bleached condition, at Nord Hoek. Almost the same is now found alive on Dassen Island (PI. II., fig. 2), but the shell is thinner and apparently of a redder hue, with a browner peristome than the normal form. This leads up to a very distinct local race, inhabiting the main- land at St. Helena Bay. In it, the shell nearly regains the size of typical globuliis, which it also resembles in general shape and drooping aperture, but it is of thinner texture, rosy brown in colour, and the surface is more glossy and far more malleate. The four specimens known to me measure : Alt. max. 29-8; diam. 28'5 ; apert. 17-3x14-1 mm. 27-0; 28-7; 16-9x13-3 27-0; 26-9; 15-2x12-2 26-2; 25-1; 13-9x11-1 Notes mi South African Mollusca. 147 This is the most northerly race of the true ylobiilns which I have yet seen, for on reaching Namaland the drooping globiilus aperture is transferred to the thin, white-lipped T. nninaquamis, and the solid shells, which might otherwise be considered almost inseparable from uli: 17-3 x 13-6 mm. In all of these the umbilicus is a little smaller and less overhung by the columellar margin than in the Type pair, but the discrepancy is not sufficient to necessitate varietal distinction. The callus is variable, being entirely absent in some fully formed shells and quite distinct in others. This species might perhaps be regarded as one of the more primi- tive members of the genus, though the radula is of a somewhat specialized type. In the form of the shell and reproductive organs D. coagulum approaches Trigonephrus more nearly than do the other known species of Dorcasia ; nevertheless the sculpture of the shell, the tripartite footsole, the form of the kidney, the internal structure of the penis, and especially the unicuspid central and lateral teeth of the radula, prove beyond doubt that this species belongs to the genus Dorcasia. The shell is peculiar for South Africa, being far more reminiscent of the Mediterranean H. vermiculata, Miill., than of the neighbouring forms of its own genus. DORCASIA ROGERSI, sp. nov., 1915. (PI. Ill, f. 2, 3. PL IV, f. 15, 23. PL V, f. 7. Text-fig. 1, C, D.) Shell rather small, umbilicate, depressed orbicular, fairly solid, translucent, calcareous, creamy white, with slight, irregular, fawn blotches and spots, which are chiefly present on the third whorl ; apex pale corneous ; peristome white. Spire depressed, but each whorl, in profile, projects clearly above the next ; apex rounded. Whorls 5, narrowly rounded, regularly increasing, the two apical smooth, remainder prettily sculptured with close, transverse striae, which become rather coarser and less regular towards the aperture and are hardly visible on the base. Suture deep, very little crenulate. Aperture almost circular ; peristome reflexed, ends joined by a very slight callus. Columella very weak, margin slightly thickened and reflexed, but not approaching the umbilicus, which is perspective and very deep, but not wide. Diam. maj. 21-1, min. 17-5; alt. max. 11-7 ; apert. 9-7 X 8'9 mm.; ends of peristome 4'3 mm. apart. Notes on South African Mollusca. 165 Animal of specimens from TKaigas : Colour (in alcohol) whitish, roof of mantle-cavity tinged with grey near the edge and along the rectum. Pallial organs very similar to those of D. coayidum (cf. PI. IV., fig. 5). Pedal gland partially embedded in the muscles of the foot, especially at the hind end (Text-fig. 1, C, D). Jaw 1-3 mm. long, rather narrow, thin, yellow-brown (PL IV., fig. 23). Eadula of specimens, the shells of which measured about 21 mm. in diameter, 3'9 X 1'3 mm. ; transverse rows of teeth trending slightly forwards on each side of the middle line, where they form a very obtuse angle ; teeth broad and short (PI. IV., fig. 15) ; ectocones are present on about two-thirds of the teeth ; formula of one specimen (35 + 1 + 37) x 128, of another (30 + 1 + 30) x 137. Crop and salivary glands surrounded with darkly pigmented connective tissue. Eeproductive system (PI. V., fig. 7) : hermaphrodite duct long, very slender, and closely convoluted ; vesicula seminalis rather small ; free oviduct scarcely swollen ; receptaculum serninis small, with a slender duct ; vagina long ; vas deferens rather closely bound to the anterior half of the penis, but only loosely attached further back; penis rather small and slender, curved at the hind end. Hab. LITTLE NAMALAND. T'Kaigas (Rogers). Type in South African Museum. Eight examples, the smallest measuring : Diaru. maj. 18 - 3, min. 14'8 ; alt. max. 8 ; apert. 8 - 5 x 7 - 4 mm. I have founded this new species on a series of small shells in perfect condition, of which some of the animals have been available for dissection. It is possible, however, that the Type represents the smallest race of a species which usually attains much greater dimen- sions, for I have seen examples from Henkries District, Little Namaland, apparently conspecific with those from T'Kaigas, but attaining such dimensions as : Diam. maj. 27'9, min. 21-7; alt. max. 12-2 ; apert. 14'0 x 11-4 mm. and 33-9, 26'8 ; 18-0 ; 18-5 x 14-2 The last of these is illustrated on PI. III., fig. 3. They are too long dead to be classified with any certainty, but they agree in form with the smaller shells, and show calcined traces of a mottling, which would probably correspond, in life, to that which appears on the early whorls of the Type set. Although connecting links may doubtless be found, all these shells, large and small, can at present be clearly distinguished from other 166 Annals of the South African Museum. known species of Dorcasia. They have neither the continuous peristome of alcxandri nor the open umbilicus and comparatively small aperture of cernua, while coagulum is a more globose form, with more rapidly increasing whorls. In many features of its internal anatomy D. rogersi bears a close resemblance to D. coagulum. The radula, however, is very distinct ; for not only are there fewer teeth in each transverse row, but the shape of the teeth is different, the inner marginals being quite unlike those of D. coagulum, as will be seen from the figures. The repro- ductive organs are very simple, the relatively small size of the penis being, perhaps, the most characteristic feature. I should not be surprised to find that the new species is more nearly allied to D. cernua, when live examples of the last- named are available for examination ; the difference in the umbilicus and aperture, however, should always afford means of distinction. DOBCASIA CERNUA (von Martens). (PL III, f. 4.) 1889 Helix cernua, von Mts., Sitz.-Ber. Ges. Nat. Fr. Berlin, p. 161. D. Shell large, flat, deeply urnbilicate, rather thick and solid, but translucent, type bleached white, but exhibiting faint traces of mottling, which would probably represent patches of colour in a live specimen. Spire hardly raised. Whorls 5|-, rounded, gradually increasing, the last descending so abruptly and steeply in front that when the empty shell rests in its natural position the interior can hardly be seen ; surface almost smooth, the fine, close, regular transverse striation, which is present on all but the first 1^ whorls, being only just visible without a lens. Suture shallow. Aperture comparatively small, ovate ; peristome thickened and reflexed, ends joined by a thick callus. Umbilicus wide and deep, extending to the apex. Dimensions of Type : Diam. maj. 3O5, min. 24'5 ; alt. max. 12-5 ; apert. 14-3 x 10-7 mm. ; ends of peristome 5'5 mm. apart. Animal unknown. Hob. GREAT NAMALAND. Angamthal ; Kuibis ; Eooiberg (sub- fossil). Type in Berlin Museum. With this is another subfossil shell from Eooiberg, near Bethany. It is much smaller than the Type, spire more raised, sculpture slightly more pronounced, whorls 5, the last not descending so far nor so- Notes on South African Mollusca. 167 abruptly. Aperture almost circular, the ends joined by so thick a callus as to make the peristome practically continuous. Umbilicus wide and deep, as in the Type, and it is owing to this feature, in particular, that I agree with von Martens in considering the two shells conspecific. The measurements of this smaller form are : Diam. maj. 19'3, min. 15;6 ; alt. 9-4 mm. The abrupt final descent of the last whorl, which causes the entire peristome to lie flat on the ground and conceal the aperture when the shell is in its normal position, is not of such specific value as it was considered by von Martens. In large series, both of D. alex- andri and its var. rotundata, I have seen some examples in which this feature is very marked, while, in the generality of specimens, the descent is either less abrupt or less extensive, so that the interior of the empty shell is plainly visible from the front, when the shell is laid in its normal position. As will be seen from the figures, the Type, with its extraordinarily flattened spire and small aperture, looks almost like an abnormal example ; but Dr. Thiele informs me that there are two more subfossil shells, from Kuibis, in the Berlin Museum, both very similar to the Type, so that the form is probably well established and distributed, and should be easily distinguishable from others of the genus. DOKCASIA ALEXANDRI, Gray. (PL III, f. 5.) 1838 Dorcasia alexandri, Gray, Alexander's Expedition, ii. p. 268. D. Shell large, depressed-globose, rimate-perforate, rather thin, translucent, type bleached white, but normally corneous ; peri- stome white. Spire but little raised ; apex obtuse. Whorls 5, the later rapidly increasing, all but the li apical covered with very fine and close, regular, curved transverse striae, almost disappearing on the base ; last whorl swollen, so that it is nearly as high as the spire, ascending slightly at the suture and descending very abruptly, nearly perpendicularly, in front, almost concealing the aperture. Suture well defined, simple. Aperture rounded ovate ; peristome continuous, free, margins not thickened but widely and strongly reflexed, though not overhanging the perforation, which is narrow, strangulate, and so eccentric that a portion of the penultimate whorl is fully disclosed. 168 Annals of the South African Museum. The measurements agreeing most nearly with those given in Gray's description, of a specimen in his Type set, are : Diam. maj. 32-6, min. 24'8 ; alt. max. 15-5; apert. 13'7 x 1V7 mm. Animal only known from a single, slightly immature specimen, from " Herero and Namaland " ! ? examined by Simroth and Pilsbry. According to their descriptions and figures, the possession of the following characters distinguishes the typical form of I), alexandri from the other members of the genus. Pedal gland lying free in the body-cavity. Jaw * " entirely smooth," with little or no median projection. Eadula t with teeth resembling those of the var. rotundata, but broader in front, and the centrals and laterals with longer basal plates. Reproductive system J : free oviduct not swollen, vagina long, vas deferens not attached to the side of the penis, but free throughout ; penis rather long, becoming thicker and bending abruptly towards the hind end, extending 1^ mm. beyond its junction with the vas deferens, to form a short terminal caecum or flagellum, on the apex of which the penial retractor is inserted. Hab. GREAT NAMALAND. Neighbourhood of the Great Fish Eiver. LITTLE NAMALAND. Neighbourhood of the Orange River. Type set in British Museum. Judging from the descriptions of Simroth and Pilsbry the typical form of D. alexandri differs widely from the other known members of the genus in possessing a smooth jaw and a terminal caecum on the penis ; for in all the remaining forms that have been examined the jaw is transversely striated, and the penis scarcely extends at all beyond its union with the vas deferens, as will be seen from the figures. It must be remembered, however, that the observations of both these authors were made on the same specimen, which was stated to be badly preserved and slightly immature; and it is therefore to be hoped that further material will be collected in order that a new examination of the anatomy may be made. Many varieties have been attributed to this species. The typical form is chiefly known from the neighbourhood of the Lower Orange River ; I have seen one beautiful example of dark reddish-corneous hue, and it is possible that when further good species have been collected this coloration will be found to prevail in the compara- tively smooth typical form, and to supply additional ground for its specific separation from varieties such as rotundata. * Man. of Conch., 1895, ix. PI. LX, f. 3. f Ibid. PI. LX, f. 6. I Ibid., frontispiece, f. 3, and Ber. Senckenb. Naturf. Ges. Frankfurt, 1894, p. 94, text-figs. Notes on South African Mollusca. 169 DORCASIA ALEXANDEI, Gray, var. MINOR, O. Boettger. (PI. Ill, f. 6.) 1886 Helix (Dorcasid) alexandri, Gray, var. minor, Bttg., Ber. Senckenb. Naturf. Ges. Frankfurt, p. 22. PI. II, f. 1. Shell differing from typical D. alexandri in being smaller, and in having a comparatively higher spire, very slightly more pronounced sculpture above, and a deeper, less eccentric umbilicus. Animal unknown. Hab. BECHUANALAND. Ghous. GREAT NAMALAND. .Geitsi Gubib. Type in Senckenberg Museum, Frankfurt am Main. The example figured, S.A.M. No. A 2818, from Geitsi Gubib, measures: Diam. maj. 22-6, min. 18'8 ; alt. max. 13 - 5 ; apert. 11-0 x 9-9 mm. Bottger founded the variety on five specimens from Ghous, north of Smalviseh Kop, Gordonia, and gives the measurements as : Diam. 21-24 ; alt. 10-111 ; apert. 10-10 X 11-12 mm. Almost every intermediate size between the typical form and the smaller variety can be found, the sculpture, height of spire, and consequent form of the umbilicus being by no means constant. DORCASIA ALEXANDRI, Gray, var. ROTUNDATA, Mousson. (PL III, f. 7. PL IV, f. 6, 16, 24. PL V, f. 8, 11.) 1887 Helix alexandri, Gray, var. rotundata, Mouss., J. de C. xxxv. p. 292. PL XII, f. 1. D.F. 1914 Dorcasia alexandri, Gray, var. sier/manni, Honigmann, Nach- richtsbl. d. D. Mai. Ges. Ixiv. p. 29. D.F. Shell depressed-globose, umbilicate, thin, semitransparent, pale corneous, peristome white and glossy. Spire depressed, each whorl, in profile, just projecting above the next ; apex obtuse. Whorls 4^, narrowly rounded, rapidly increasing, all but the apical sculptured with close, regular, transverse costae, which become closer and finer, but show very clearly, on the base and extend into the umbilicus ; last whorl descending very abruptly in front. Suture deep, simple. Aperture rounded-ovate ; peristome quite free, continuous, widely reflexed, but in no way overhanging the umbilicus, which is deep, but strangulate and very narrow. Dimensions of a specimen from Eehoboth : Diam. maj. 2T1, min. 16'8 ; alt. max. 12~3 ; apert. 1O8 x 9'2 mm. 170 Annals of the South African Museum. Animal of full-grown specimens from the same locality. Colour drab, possibly due to immersion in strong spirit ; roof of mantle-cavity apparently unpigmented. Left body-lobe divided into two separate portions, the left being rather small and not connected with the right by any fold or ridge (see PL IV., fig. 6, which also shows the arrangement of the pulmonary veins and the form of the kidney). Pedal gland embedded in the muscles of the foot at its hind end, but emerging into the body-cavity further forward. Jaw 1-9 mm. long, rather thin, golden-brown ; broader towards the middle, more pointed at the ends, and rather more curved than in D. coagulum and D. rogersi (PI. IV., fig. 24). Eadula of a specimen, the shell of which measured about 21 mm. in diameter, 5xl'8mm. ; transverse rows of teeth almost straight; teeth less diverse in shape than in D. coagulum and D. rogersi; outer marginals with squarer bases (PI. IV., fig. 16) ; ectocones are present on about five-eighths of the teeth ; formula (39 + 1 + 40) x 139. In another specimen several of the rows of teeth are abnormally shortened and crowded, the formula being (41 + 1 + 41) x 166, and the radula measures 5'2 x 1'8 mm. Crop and salivary glands apparently unpigmented. Buccal retractor united with the left tentacular retractor for a longer distance than in the other species. Eeproductive system (PI. V., fig. 8): hermaphrodite duct very slender and closely convoluted ; vesicula seminalis long ; common duct abruptly curved at its anterior end; free oviduct scarcely swollen, receptaculum seminis larger than in D. coagulum and D. rogersi ; vagina long ; vas deferens very loosely attached to the side of the penis ; the part next to the posterior half of the penis is closely convoluted, the convolutions being bound together by a sheath of connective tissue ; penis long, curved and contorted, especially towards the posterior end, though the bends occupy different positions in different individuals. Hab. DAMABALAND. Eehoboth District. Type of rotundata in Zurich Museum ; siegmanni in coll. Natermann. The published figures of rotundata hardly convey a proper idea of the actual shell, as they entirely fail to show the well-marked basal sculpture, which is its most prominent characteristic. This unfortunate omission was the cause of its being re- described by Honigmann under the varietal name of siegmanni. However, at the instance of Herr Carl Natermann, cotypes of the last-named form have been compared by Dr. 0. Stoll, of Zurich, with the type set of rotundata, and pronounced inseparable. Both were Notes on South African Mollusca. 171 described from the Rehoboth District, and are known, as yet, from no other locality. In a large series, the shape of the peristome and the relative position of the umbilicus differ considerably. The peristome may be either acuminate-ovate or nearly circular ; the last whorl, also, may descend very abruptly in front and cause the peristome to be entirely solute, or less abruptly, when the peristome may be almost adnate. The striation is not quite constant, being perceptibly closer in some specimens, both above and beneath, than in others. The dimensions vary considerably, a few specimens, taken at random, measuring : Diam. maj. 25'2, min. 2OO ; alt. max. 13-5; apert. 12-2x11 mm. 25-1, 20-0; 13-2; ,, 12-3x9-8 22-0, 17-0; 13'0; 10'7x9-5 21-8, 17-1; 13-0; 11-2x9-5 This form differs anatomically from the other members of the genus that have been examined in several minor features, one of the most striking being the close convolution of the posterior part of the vas deferens. Although the vas deferens is not wholly detached from the side of the penis, as is said to be the case in the typical form of D. alexandri, it is much more loosely joined to it than in D. coaguliim and D. rogersi ; and it is interesting to note that this gradual separation of the vas deferens from the wall of the penis is correlated with the lengthening and contortion of the latter organ, just as in Trigonephrus lucanus. The jaw is striated, and the caecal prolongation of the penis, described as occurring in the typical form of D. alexandri, is absent from this variety. DOBCASIA ALEXANDRI, Gray, var. TRIVIA, 0. Boettger. 1910 D. alexanderi, Gray, var. trivia, Bttg., Abh. Senckenb. Naturf. Ges. Frankfurt, xxxii. p. 439. PI. XXVIII, f. 3. D.F. I have not seen this vai'iety, the following notes on the Type being compiled from information kindly rendered by Dr. Haas. Shell intermediate in size between the typical form and var. minor, but of thinner texture. The elevation of the whorls and general form of the aperture and umbilicus are similar to typical alexandri, but the sculpture consists of raised, rather distant costae, from ^ to 1 mm. apart, whereas the fine striae of alexandri are far closer together, 3 to the mm. on the last whorl. 172 Annals of the South African Museum. Animal unknown. Hab. DAMARALAKD. Khoma's Plateau. Type in Senckenberg Museum. Boettger founded this variety on 13 specimens, and gives the measurements as : Diam. 24-30; alt. 14-15 mm. DORCASIA ALEXANDRI, Gray, var. PERSPECTIVA, nov., 1915. (PI. Ill, f. 8.) Shell depressed-globose, umbilicate, thin, semitransparent, type pale buff, peristome white and glossy. Spire flattened, each whorl, in profile, just projecting above the next ; apex obtuse. Whorls 44, very rounded, fairly rapidly and regularly increasing, the apical smooth, remainder beautifully sculptured with curved transverse costae, at first close, fine and regular, gradually becoming coarser and, towards the aperture, irregularly waved or broken and wider apart. The last whorl descends abruptly in front, but not so as to conceal the aperture entirely. Aperture roundly ovate ; peristome continuous, broadly reflexed, quite free and clearly projecting from the last whorl, but in no part overhanging the umbilicus, which is broad and very deep, so that the apex is fully disclosed and quite transparent. Diam. maj. 29'0, min. 22-0 : alt. max. 12'8; apert. 13'8xll-5 mm. Animal unknown. Hab. DAMARALAND. Omaruru Eiver (A. Wohlfahrt). Type in Kimberley Museum. This is the most northerly form of alexandri yet known. The Type set, being almost subfossil, are nearly colourless, but would doubtless be pale corneous were they in live condition. The shell differs from that of var. trivia, Boettger, in having even coarser sculpture, and in its umbilicus being very broad and deep instead of more or less shallow and narrow, as in other described forms of alexandri. The dimensions vary considerably. I have selected the largest example as Type ; others measure respectively : Diam. maj. 26-0, min. 19'8; alt. max. 11-0 mm. 23-0, 18-5; 10-5 22-6, 18-2; 10-7 22-0, 17-4; 10-1 A glance at D. alexandri and its varieties will show that, if they all belong to the same widely distributed species, it is an extremely Notes on South African Mollusca. 173 variable one. Little reliance can be placed on the comparative size of the shell, height of the spire, or shape of the aperture, but the perforation varies from a slit to a well, and the sculpture from fine and regular to irregular and costate. Moreover, the difference in anatomy between the only two forms which have yet been examined may well be more than merely varietal. It is quite possible, there- fore, that, when we have a better knowledge of their anatomy and exact distribution, more than one of the so-called varieties of alexandri will be proved worthy of specific rank. On the other hand, it will be seen that the gradual, constant divergence from Type increases quite regularly in a northerly direction, from the rimate typical form with hardly visible sculpture in the south, through rotundata and trivia, to the widely umbilicate perspective!, with costate sculpture in the north. This gradual divergence is less incompatible with all the forms belonging to one species than if they were scattered about indiscriminately, irrespective of geographical restrictions. I therefore prefer, for the present, not to disturb the varietal arrangement ; it can easily be done later, if wan'anted by the occasion. GENUS TULBAGHINIA, Melv. & Pons., 1898. A.M.N.H. i. p. 28. Shell rather large, depressed-globose, umbilicate, usually cor- neous and ornamented with bands or mottling ; peristome thickened or reflexed, sometimes showing weak dentition on the colurnella. Animal unknown. Distribution. The South-western district of the Cape Province, chiefly in the more wooded areas between Tulbagh and Bredasdorp. Genotype, Tulbaghinia isomcrioidcs (M. & P.). Founded as a sub-genus of Dorcasia for T. isomerioides, on account of its peculiar columellar formation. As it is extremely doubtful whether this species belongs to the Dorcasiinae at all, it is obviously advisable to raise Tulbaghinia to generic rank. I have no hesitation in including schaerfiae, Pfr., in the genus on account of its close conchological affinity with the genotype. The general appearance of the shell, especially the white, thickened peristome, recalls certain members of the Dorcasiinae, and, until more is known of the animal, I am content to regard the genus as representing the sylvan races of the subfamily. 174 Annals of the South African Museum. TULBAGHINIA ISOMEKIOIDES (Melv. & PonS.). 1898 Dorcasia (Tulbaghinia) isomerioides, M. & P., A.M.N.H. i. p. 28. PL VIII, f. ]0. D.F. Shell rather large, depressed- globose, umbilicate, fairly thin, trans- lucent, bright corneous, slightly paler beneath ; peristome white and glossy ; interior showing the colour of the exterior. Spire depressed, apex very obtuse. Whorls 5, rounded, rather gradually increasing, all but the apical covered with close, curved, well-defined transverse striae, the earlier whorls showing considerable faint malleation, and the last, clear microscopic granulation. Suture simple, rather shallow. Aperture truncate-ovate ; peristome narrowly reflexed, ends joined by a thin callus. Columella furnished with three small protuberances on the inner edge ; outer columellar margin forming a distinct angle of 130 3 -8 mm. from its junction with the paries. Dimensions of Type: Diam. inaj. 30-0, min. 24'6; alt. max. 15-8; apert. 16'2xl2'4 mm.; ends of peristome 4'1 mm. apart. Animal unknown. Hab. CAPE PEOVINCE. Tulbagh. Type in British Museum. Only three specimens are known, and in these the peculiar columellar dentition is variable, there being three processes in the Type and only two in another example. The last mentioned, which I described in Vol. XI. p. 152 of these ANNALS, also differs widely from the Type in coloration, being dark olive-brown, beautifully mottled with yellow on the upper whorls. Whether this, or the uniform brown of the Type, is the normal colour scheme of the species, will be proved when further examples come to hand. Although the little protuberances on the columella may prove to be of specific value in the case of T. isomerioides, something of a similar nature is of irregular, though infrequent occurrence in other Dorcasiinae. Possibly owing to its slime attracting minute par- ticles of sand, the parietal region of Trigonephrus globulus is some- times quite rough with brown, horny points, while even in the shell figured (PI. II, f. 1) a somewhat similar excrescence is notice- able on the exterior of the outer lip. I have also seen an example of T. gypsinus, which showed a minute, perfectly formed denticle just inside the basal margin of the aperture. TULBAGHINIA SCHAERFIAE (Pfeiffer). 1861 Helix schaerfiae, Pfr., Mal.Blatt., viii. p. 73. PI. II, f. 1-3. D.F. Shell depressed orbicular, umbilicate, thin, glossy, semitrans- parent, bright corneous, with several narrow, regular, spiral rufous Notes on South African Mollusca. 175 bands, more frequent above, but also present, though fewer and fainter, beneath; peristome white and glossy; interior nacreous blue. Spire flattened. Whorls 4, flattish, rapidly increasing and ex- panding, covered with close, regular, transverse striae which impart a satin-like appearance to the shell. Suture simple, rather shallow. Aperture quadrate-oval ; peristome very slightly thickened. Colurnella extremely weak. Umbilicus deep and open. Dimensions of a shell from Oudebosch, in my collection : Diam. maj. 29 - 9, rnin. 24'0 ; alt. max. 14'7 ; apert. 14'6xl3 - mm.; ends of peristome 8*2 mm. apart. Animal unknown. Hab. CAPE PROVINCE. Bredas Bosch and Oudebosch. Type in Stettin Museum, from Bredas Bosch. Layard's notes on this species run : " Of this beautiful shell there are three very distinct varieties : (a) a pale, almost white var., marked with sparse, faint, brown lines ; (b) also pale, but covered with close-set, well-marked, dark brown longitudinal lines. " These two varieties are from the open veldt at Bredasdorp, and are, except slightly on the underside, destitute of epidermis. This, I conceive, is burnt off by the sun, for at Oudebosch, in Caledon District, in the forest, my son and I took (c) a lovely variety, of a dark brown colour, covered with a beautiful transparent epidermis, quite polished and glistening on the underside, through which the dark brown bands of the shell show quite plainly. In this locality the shells are protected from the sun by the dense forest. I never saw this shell from any other localities than those named, and it is there not a common species." The pale coloration of Layard's vars. (a) and (b) is not due to loss of epidermis, as I have seen similarly marked specimens in excellent condition. The ground colour is pale cream, and the narrow reddish bands may be either quite conspicuous or almost invisible. APPENDIX. UNDETERMINED VARIETIES. A few specimens which have come under examination are not referable to any of the preceding forms, but, owing either to insuffi- 176 Annals of the South African Museum. cient material or poor condition, I have not ventured to found new species on them. When live examples come to hand, some of them will doubtless prove worthy of names. I append rough diagnoses of the more remarkable. 1. TEIGONEPHBUS, spec. (S.A.M. No. A 2817). Shell somewhat resembling in contour a small, blunt-apexed T. 2)orp]ii/rostoma, bleached and subfossil, but once, apparently, of brownish colour with reddish purple peristome. Whorls 5, sculp- ture resembling that of rosaceus. Aperture similar to that of globidus ; peristome much thickened, columellar margin completely overgrowing the umbiicus, so that the shell appears to be imperforate. Alt. max. 37'8; diam. 33'5; apert. 19'6xl7 4 5 mm.; ends of peristome 12'75 mm. apart. Animal unknown. Hal. GREAT NAMALAND. Granite Berg, 27 30' S. ; 15 30' E. (Rogers). Possibly an aberrant form of porphyrostoma. 2. TRIGONEPHBUS, spec. (S.A.M. No. 8235a). Shell slightly elongate-globose, thin, semitransparent, dark reddish brown ; peristome brown. Spire a little produced, apex bluntly rounded. Whorls 4^, rapidly increasing, all but the apical covered with close, faint transverse, and microscopic spiral striae. Aperture quadrate-ovate, shaped like that of T. globidus; peristome moderately thickened and reflexed, half concealing the narrow umbilicus. Alt. max. 25-8; diam. 21'1 ; apert. 13'5 x lO'l mm.; ends of peristome 9'6 mm. apart. Animal unknown. Hub. CAPE OP GOOD HOPE. St. Helena Bay (Gould). A single specimen, possibly a sport from the local race of globulus, but differing in its darker colour and the absence of the infra-sutural white band, while in form resembling a squat T. namaquensis, var. procems, rather than globulus. A longer series is necessary before its exact status can be determined. 3. TRIGONEPHRUS, spec. A little brown shell, almost similar in shape to T. ambiguosus, var. compactus, but considerably smaller, with a white peristome. Its Notes on South African Mollusca. 177 dimensions are: Diam. maj. 21, min. 17'3 ; alt. max. 15-8; apert. 11 3 x 9-3 mm. Two specimens, labelled " Namaqualand," in the Layard Col- lection. I am uncertain whether they can be the pair mentioned as from Namaqualand on p. 146, or whether they are not rather the small form of lacanus from Bredasdorp (p. 158). Under such cir- cumstances, it seems inadvisable to name them. 4. DORCASIA ALEXANDRA var. (S.A.M. No. A 2819). Shell similar to the typical form in all respects except the sculpture, which, though much worn, appears to be slightly more pronounced, and the umbilicus, which is very wide and open, deep and perspective, extending to the transparent apex. Diam. maj. 28'1, min. 22-8 ; alt. max. 14-2 ; apert. 15 x 11 mm. Animal unknown. Hab. DAMABALAND. Erongo Mountains (Eogers). A connecting link between the var. perspectives, which it resembles in its open umbilicus, and the typical form, which it nearly resembles in sculpture. The locality, however, being just north of the Omaruru, suggests that it is a smoothish sub-variety of pcrspectiva, rather than a widely umbilicate one of the true alexandri. 5. HELIX BULBUS, Menke. 1848 Helix bulbus, Mke., Pfr., Zeitschr. f. Malak. v. p. 116. D. 1853 ,, Conch Cab., p. 268. PI. CXXII (1852), f. 4-6. D.F. Apparently founded on a single specimen, whose present where- abouts cannot be traced. A translation of Pfeiffer's diagnosis runs: "Shell moderately umbilicate, globose-depressed, thin, irregularly rugose and sculp- tured with impressed concentric lines ; white ; spire flattish. Whorls 4i-, almost flat, the last rounded, scarcely descending in front. Aperture oblique, lunate-oval, interior white, shining ; peri- stome simple, margins approximating, the right lip straight, curved forward ; the basal very slightly reflexed ; the columellar margin dilated. Shell 26 x 21 ; alt. 13 mm." " Hab. CAPE, in coll. Menke." The description and figure should be quite sufficient for the identification of the species, should it ever be rediscovered. Not only, however, do the conspicuous spiral striae suggest little affinity 178 Annals of the South African Museum. with the Dorcasiinae, but the shell appears to be quite unlike any- thing known to exist in South Africa, though, were it not for the spiral sculpture, it might be attributable to some bleached form of Natalina. Failing the reappearance of the Type, therefore, I am inclined to believe that the locality quoted is erroneous, and, for this reason, to expunge H. bulbus altogether from the South African list and place it in the category of lost species. PLATE II. Fig. 1. Trigoncphriis globnlus (Mull.) ; from a specimen in my collection. ,, 2. T. globulus, forma minor; from a specimen in my collection. ,, 3. T. gypsinns (Melv. & Pons.); from the Type in British Museum. ,, 4. T. rosacens (Miill.) ; from a specimen in the South African Museum. ,, 5. T. rosacens, forma minor; from a specimen in my collection. ,, 6. T. porphyrostoma (Melv. & Pons.) ; from a specimen in the South African Museum. ,, 7. T. natnaquensis (Melv. & Pons.) ; from a specimen in the South African Museum. ,, 8. T. namaqnemis, var. procerus, nov. ; from the Type in coll. Ponsonby. ,, 9. T. namaquensis, var. procerus ? ; from a specimen in the South African Museum. ,, 10. T. lucanus (Miill.) ; from a specimen in my collection. ,, 11. T. ambiguosus (For) ; from a specimen in my collection. ,, 12. T. ambiguosus, var. compactus, nov.; from the Type in my collection. Ann. S.Afr.Mus.Vol. XIII. Plate II. Wesb.Newrr.au del.et lith. SPECIES OF TRIGONEPHRUS. PLATE III. Fig. 1. Dorcasia coaynlum (v. Mts.) ; from a specimen in the South African Museum. ,, '2. D. rogerxi, nov. ; from the Type in the South African Museum. ,, 3. D. roycrsi, forma maxima; from a specimen in the South African Museum. ,, 4. D. cernua (v. Mts.) ; from the Type in Berlin Museum. 5. D. alexandri, (Gray) ; from the Type in British Museum. ,, 6. D. alexandri, var. minor, Bttg. ; from a specimen in the South African Museum. ,, 7. D. alexandri, var. rotundata, Mouss. ; from a specimen in the South African Museum. ,, 8. D. alexandri, var. perspcctira, nov. ; from the Type in Kimherley Museum. Ann. S.Afr.M-us.Vol. XIII. Plate III West, Newman del.eL lath. SPECIES OF DORCASIA. PLATE IV. ANATOMY OP THE DORCASIINAE. Figs. 1-6. Pallial organ* seen from below, showing the arrangement of the pulmonary veins, with the mantle-edge and left body-lobes above, the pericardium and kidney below, and the rectum on the left side. (Somewhat diagrammatic.) Fig. 1. Trigonephrus globulus (Mull.). ,, 2. T. porphyrostoma (M. & P.). ,, 3. T. namaquensis (M. - f t /~~\ f~\ r ~\ r Q 12 - g 18 19 27 35 41 28 23 18 .13 S ^ ^ 17 18 I 1 K 27 PLATE V. ANATOMY OP THE; DORCASIINAE. Figs. 1-8. Reproductive organs, showing the genital opening above, the albumen gland and vesicula seminalis below, the hermaphrodite gland on the right, the penis on the left, and the receptaculum seminis in the middle. Fig. 1. Trigonephnw globulus (Miill.) x 3. ,, 2. 2'. rosaceus (Miill.) x 1*5. ,, 3. T. porplnjrostoma (M. & P.) x 1-5. ,, 4. T. namaquensis (M. & P.) x 3. ,, 5. 2'. lucanus (Miill.) x 2-25. ,, 6. Dorcasia coagulum (v. Mts.) x 3-3. ,, 7. D. rogersi, nov. x 3'3. ,, 8. D. alexandri, var. rotundata (Mouss.) x 4. Figs. 9-11. Spermatozoa, showing the head and anterior end of the tail. Fig. 9. Trigonephriis globulus (Miill.) x 1,200. ,, 10. 2'. lucanus (Miill.) x 1,200. ,, 11. Dorcasia alexandri, var. rotundata, Mouss. x 1,200. Ann. S.Afr.Mus. Vol. XIII. Plate V. West.Newman collotype. (179) 8. Notes on South African Non-marine Mollusca. By M. CONNOLLY. (Continued.} IV. A hitherto unnamed variety of DORCASIA ALEXANDRI Gray. IN the Monograph of Dorcasiinae, published last year in these Annals, I mentioned on p. 177 a shell from the Erougo Mountains, of which I had then only seen a single specimen, as being probably worthy of a varietal name. Through the kindness of Messrs. Henry Burnup and John Pousonby- Fane I have now been enabled to examine an extensive series of this form, collected on Mt. Usakos by Mr. P. Ross Frames, and can thus furnish further particulars. To Mr. Burnup I am also much indebted for copious notes, whose incorporation in the present paper adds greatly to its value, and reduces my own task to a minimum. DORCASIA ALEXANDRI Gray, var. MONTANA, nov. 1916. Shell depressed-globose, widely umbilicate, rather thin, translucent, Type slightly bleached, pale chestnut above, shading to pale greyish- yellow beneath, peristorne yellowish-white. Spire but little raised, though each whorl, in profile, projects clearly above the next ; apex obtuse. Whorls 5, very rounded, rapidly increasing, the 2 apical almost smooth, remainder prettily sculptured above with very fine, close, regular, curved striae, which become much fainter beneath ; last whorl descending rapidly in front ; suture simple, rather deep. Aperture acuminate-ovate ; peristonie quite free, continuous, margins not 14 180 Annals of the South African Museum. thickened, reflexed, but not overhanging the umbilicus, which is very wide and deep, extending to and clearly exposing the transparent apex. Diain. maj. 27'9, niin. 22'5 ; alt. 14'1; apert. 16'2 x 13'0 rum. Hob. DAMARALAND. Mt. TJsakos (Frames, 1915). Erongo Moun- tains (Rogers, 1914). Bullspoort, between Nauchas and Maltahohe (Tucker, 1916). At Mr. Burnup's request I have placed the Type in the British Museum. The chief points in which the new variety differs from typical alexandri are in the umbilicus, which is wide and deep instead of shallow and strangulate, and the aperture, which is more acuminate ; the sculpture also, though fine and close, is markedly more pronounced than in the typical form. Both its umbilicus and aperture closely resemble those of rar. perspectiva, but the sculpture is so distinct that unless intermediate forms are found there will never be any difficulty in differentiating one from the other. I have selected as Type a shell possessing the double advantage of being the freshest specimen, and also almost exactly intermediate between the two extremes in size, for the latter feature varies greatly, the largest example measuring: Diain. maj. 34'5 ; min. 28 - ; alt. 16'4 ; apert. 21*1 x 15'6 mm.; and the smallest: Diam. maj. 21'7; min. 17 - 3; alt. lO'O : apert. ITS x 9'7 mm. The average size of the variety, however, would appear to be a little greater than that of the Type, the smaller specimens being in a minority. The fact of its only occurring, so far, on mountains permits the choice of a distinctive varietal name, but I do not suppose that montana will necessarily prove to be confined to mountainous districts, or that such surroundings exercise any influence on the characters of the shell. The Type-set were collected at different altitudes between 300 and 1200 ft., but the size does not appear to be affected by the height. The largest example comes from the 700 ft. level, and the smallest from that of nearly 1200 ft., but there is no average uniformity, as the highest and lowest levels also produce shells only infinitesiinally smaller than the maximum. The aperture is fairly constant in form throughout the series, measuring in four other specimens 19 - 5 x 16, 16 - 8 x 14, 16'75 x 14'3, and 14-8 x 12'3 mm. A series of bleached shells in the South African Museum from the Erongo Mountains present very nearly the same characters as the Notes on South African Non-marine Mollusca. 181 Type-set, although the sculpture is not quite so fine, and the peristome shows a tendency to coalesce with the last whorl instead of being perfectly solute. Since the foregoing was written two bleached examples have been received by the South African Museum from Bulls Mouth Pass (Bullspoort) between Nauchas and Maltahohe, which undoubtedly belong to the new variety. They differ slightly therefrom, however, in that their sculpture is less pronounced than in the Type ; their apertm-e also is more remote from the umbilicus, so that a consider- able expanse of the base of the last whoi'ls is exposed between the umbilicus and the refiexed edge of the peristome. The shells measure respectively : Diam. maj. 33'2, min. 26'0 ; alt, 17'0; apert. 17'9 x 147 mm. 31-5, 24-8 ; 16-5 ; 16-0 x 12-0 mm. V. On the introduced Land-Moll uscan Fauna of South Africa. I have more than once been taken to task for inserting the introduced species in my Revised Reference List, iii their natural order instead of sequestrating them to some other portion of the volume. My answer is that not only is it almost impossible to decide, in some instances, whether a species is indigenous or otherwise, but also that I have been often misled, in books where the last-mentioned system prevails, by not noticing or by being unable to find the introduced species ; so that I much prefer including them in Generic sequence in the body of the work. As time goes on, however, it will become increasingly difficult to determine the introduced species, so it may be well to publish a tentative list while it is still possible to collect information from living authorities as to the dates and means of their introduction. This list combines two distinct groups. One contains, for the most part, large forms whose importation by human agency can be actually verified and whose distribution is even now confined to the most restricted limits of civilisation ; the other consists of minute shells, found as often as not in primeval jungle, the date and means of whose introduction, if they were introduced at all, is problematical, and whose diffusion is probably attributable to the agency of birds and winds. I include Land-slugs and one or two of the Limnteidte in the following list, but omit semi-marine Genera such as Melampus and 182 Annals of the South African Museum. Onchidium, owing to the uncertainty as to their correct identification and the difficulty of determining their original home. TESTACELLA MAUGEI Ferussac ( T. aurigaster Layard in MS.). Taylor * holds that aurigaster Layard is synonymous with maugei, and as his views have recently been confirmed by H. Watson f there is no ground for the retention of the former name, a desirable result, since no description or figure of aurigaster can be traced and the name is really nude. T. maugei is restricted to Cape Town, and is now becoming fairly frequent in other gardens than those of the South African Museum, in which it was first noticed by Layard. It is peculiarly spasmodic in its appearance, being moderately abundant one season and then allowing several years to elapse before again attracting attention. Its introduction to its South African habitat is easily accountable. VlTREA CRYSTALLINA (Miiller). Only known so far from a few gardens in the neighbourhood of Cape Town and Wynberg, where it has been found locally abundant by E. M. Lightfoot, who first noticed the species in 1890 ; it has doubtless been imported in soil. POLITA ALLIARIA (Miller). Frequent in gardens at Grahamstown, where Mr. Farquhar tells me that he found it in decayed leaves under bushes, fifty yards from his house, when he first went there about 1894. Its introduction probably dates to a considerably earlier period, for the G-rahamstowii shells are so much more highly sculptured than typical alliaria that they might have been considered a distinct species, were it not that the Rev. E. Wake Bowell has pronounced their anatomy to be identical with that of the European form. The ordinary smooth variety has existed for at least six years in the greenhouses round the South African Museum, Cape Town. POLITA CELLARIA (Miiller). Considering that it was noticed by Benson at Roudebosch, where it is now abundant in the woods of Groot Schuur, as long ago as 1846, and was also recorded by Gibbons from the Cape in 1878, it is * Mon. Brit. Moll. 1902, pp. 25, 27. t Ann. Natal Mus. 1915, iii, p. 220. Notes on South African Non-marine Mollusca. 183 surprising that this species is not now more widely diffused than is actually the case. V It is pretty general all over the cultivated part of the Cape Peninsula, without, however, encroaching much upon the wilder districts, and it is also recorded from Stellenbosch, Somerset East and Somerset West. The only specimen which I have seen from Bula- wayo has the appearance of having travelled there dead in a flower- pot, but Miss Wilman informs me that the species has been observed within the last two years at Kimberley, where it is not infrequent in one or two gardens. POLITA DRAPARNAUDI (Beck). Found in nursery gardens by W. J. Oakley about 1908 at Ronde- bosch, and by myself in 1909 at Kenilworth, C.P., where it is associated with Z. arboreus (Say), but is confined to one or two greenhouses, whereas arboreus is as happy in the open as under glass. The Kenilworth examples of draparnaudi grow to a large size, my finest measuring 16 x 14 mm. in diameter. The animal has been examined and identified by the Eev. E. W. Bo well. ZONITOIDES ARBOREUS (Say). Shells apparently inseparable from this widespread American species have been collected in nursery gardens at Kenilworth ; the Botanical Gardens, Pietermaritzburg ; the Zoological Gardens, Pretoria ; and at Grahamstown, Queenstown, Kiugwilliamstown and Port Elizabeth, to all of which localities it may easily have been transported through commerce. Of course the presence in the Sub-continent of Zonitoides africanus Bttg. and Z. ciipido M. & P. renders it by no means improbable that other endemic species of this Genus exist therein, and it is really far more remarkable that shells from so many diverse localities should be inseparable from arboreus than if they belonged to distinct indigenous species. KALIELLA SIGURENSIS Godwin-Austen. Dautzenberg and Germain * consider the above to be synonymous with K. barraJcporensis (Pfr.). Whichever name it should bear, this little shell is abundant in many wooded districts up the eastern side of the Continent where it has certainly not been spread by human agency. Its distribution south of the Zambesi includes the Botanical Gardens, * Eev. Zool. Africaine, 1914, iv, p. 17. 184 Annals of the South African Museum . Pietermaritzburg, and other Natalian localities in Dargle, Equeefa, Karkloof and Tyeloti, while in the Transvaal it occurs at Fountains, Pretoria, in company with introduced species like V. excentrica, P. orcula and L. truncatida, and on the banks of Hennops River, 15 miles west of Pretoria, where it is hardly likely to have been carried by the hand of man. In regard to the group of introduced Slugs I can add but little, to the bare details given in my Reference List. Mr. Hugh Watson very kindly permits me to publish a few additional localities from which he has recently received material, with the proviso that they must be accepted for the present as purely conjectural, owing to the impossibility of accurate identification until his anatomical analyses are completed. LlMAX FLAVUS Limit'. Chronicled by Collinge under the name of variegatus in 1900 from Cape Town and in 1901 from Natal, where it is said to be common at Pietermaritzburg. Lightfoot writes that he first noticed it at Cape Town in 1898, but has never found it outside the precincts of gardens and outhouses. A slug that is almost certainly attributable to this species is reported by Watson from Gfrahamstown (Farquhar). LIMAX MAXIMUS Linne. Discovered by Lightfoot on Table Mountain, above Newlands, in 1900, and collected by Gr. French in the same locality in 1913. MILAX GAGATES (Draparnaud). Date of introduction uncertain, but it was collected near Cape Town by the " Challenger" Expedition in 1873, while Smith* considers that it may have provided the original material on which Krauss founded his Liinax capensis in 1848. M. cjagates is also recorded from Ash ton and Storms Vlei, Cape Province (Purcell), and from Pietermaritzburg. AGRIOLIMAX AGRESTIS (Linnc). Recorded by Sturany from Port Elizabeth (no finder mentioned) in 1898, and by Collinge from Cape Town (Lightfoot) in 1900, and from Pietermaritzburg in 1910. * P. Z. S. 1884, p. 276. Notes on South African Non-marine MoHusca. 185 Watsou considers that specimens collected at Caledon and East London by Mrs. Longstaff in 1914, and at Albert Falls, Natal, by Akermaii in ]910, will probably prove to belong to this species. Lightfoot has also taken it in gardens at Stellenbosch, Ceres and East London. AGRIOLIMAX L^VIS (Miiller). Recorded by Sturauy from " Cape " (in Vienna Museum) in 1898,. by Collinge from Cape Town (finder not mentioned) in 1901, and by Taylor from Queenstown, Cape Province (Dower) in 1904. It is probable that examples from Thornville Junction, Natal (Burnup, 1907), will eventually prove to belong to this species. ARION FUSCUS (Miiller). Lightfoot found this species to be fairly common on the slopes of Table Mountain at Plaat Klip, and on Signal Hill, in 1898. It was chronicled by Colliuge from Pietermaritzburg in 1910. ARION INTERMEDIUS Normand. Stated by Simroth to have been collected on the Cape Flats by Schultze in 1904. In addition to the chances of possible importation by the earlier Dutch and Huguenot settlers, there has more recently been established a considerable German agricultural colony in this neighbourhood, so that the presence there of any of the commoner Eui'opeau Molluscs is easily explainable. EULOTA SIMILARIS (Ft'russac). A widespread circum-tropical species whose presence at Durban is doubtless accountable to introduction in plants from Mauritius or Ceylon. It is making little headway in South Africa, for although collected in Durban by Plant about 1860 and in a garden on the Berea, near the Botanical Gardens, by Quekett about 1900, Mr. Burnup informs me that the only fresh locality known to him is in the Stella Bush, near Durban, where specimens have been taken within the last four years. As houses have recently been built abutting on the Bush, E. similar is may well have been carried there in plants from the Berea, but it certainly appears probable that the species is now breeding in Natal. 186 Annals of the South African Museum. COCHLICELLA ACUTA (Milller). I believe that the only South African locality for this Mediterranean species is St. James, Cape Peninsula, where a little colony was discovered by the present writer in 1909 under spare sleepers near the railway station, in company with P. ceUaria, which found the little helicoids a particularly appetising luxury. Dr. Periuguey courteously informs me that the sleepers have disappeared, but that C. aciita is now to be found on Eichardia (the beautiful white arum, locally known as Pig-lily) in the vicinity of the station. The sleepers are supposed to have been brought either from Australia or the Knysna forest, which does not account for the intro- duction of this species, but the shells are remarkably thin and fragile, in great contrast to the solid Mediterranean form. PUPISOMA JAPONICUM Pilsbry. A species inseparable from this Eastern form has evidently been long naturalised in Natal, as it is widely distributed far from the haunts of man, as well as in orchards in the neighbourhood of big towns. The localities given by Burnup are Pietermaritzburg, Edendale, Karkloof, and N'timbankulu. PUPISOMA ORCULA (Benson). This Indian species is still more widely distributed than the fore- going, with which it has been found in all the above-mentioned locali- ties. It has also been identified from Richmond and Dargle in Natal ; Port Elizabeth and Grahamstown in the Cape Province ; Fountains, Pretoria ; and the Eaiu Forest, Victoria Falls. VALLONIA EXCENTRICA Sterki. Every South African specimen of Vallonia, formerly attributed to pulchella, which has been subjected to expert examination has proved to belong to Sterki's species. Although first found by Benson at High Constantia as long ago as 1846, it does not appear to have travelled far from civilisation, its distribution being confined to the near vicinity of large towns, and easily attributable to quite a mild tornado of that peculiarly dusty type which adds so little to the doubtful charms of life on the veldt. Thus it is found at Fountains, Pretoria, where original bush is inter- Notes on South African Non-marine Molln*<-. 187 spersed with patches of cultivation, in common with tho introduced P. orcida, K. sigitrensis, and L. truncatula, as well as the endemic Trachycystis hottentota M. & P. ; but in the Cape Peninsula, while hottentota inhabits the little piece of apparently original jungle in the Admiralty Ravine, Simoustown, excentrica has not spread beyond gardens in Cape Town and Wynberg. Its other localities are Somerset East, Grahamstown, Kingwilliams- town. and Port Elizabeth in the Cape Province, and Pietermaritzburg in Natal. HELIX ASPERSA M filler. The late Lord de Villiers informed me that he remembered this species being first brought to Cape Town by Mous. Dastre for eating- purposes about 1870. The rapidity with which it adapted itself to its new surroundings is evinced by the fact that it was one of the only three land-molluscs collected in that neighbourhood by the members of the " Challenger " Expedition iu 1873, while Gibbons wrote in 1878 that he had never seen the species so plentiful as it then was in the neighbourhood of Cape Town. Outside the Cape Peninsula and Robbeu Island H. aspersa is only known from Port Elizabeth, where Mr. Farquhar found it not un- common as long ago as 1882, and from Kimberley, where Miss Wilmau informs me that it made its first appearance in gardens in 1915. HELIX FAUX-NIGRA Chemnitz. Pallary* has shown that Mailer's original description of Helix lactea cannot possibly be applied to the well-known Mediterranean species, which must pass in future under the hideous, though appro- priate, name faux-nigra of Chemnitz. Two examples of this species were found by Mrs. Barber in 1897 in a garden on the bank of the Kowie River, where it does not appear to have perpetuated itself. The erroneous record of Pondoland in Melvill and Ponsonby's Check-list refers to this occasion. As the shells are no longer in existence it may be worth remarking that they were of the dark, bandless variety, such as is frequent at Teneriffe, a port of call for nearly half the traffic between Europe and the Cape. HELIX PISANA Mailer. This species was first noticed by W. G. Fail-bridge in 1881 on what was then Gallows Hill, but now forms part of Cape Town Docks. * Nachrichtsbl. d. D. mal. Ges. 1911, p. 8. 188 Annals of the South African Museum. It is now by far the commonest shell in the Cape Peninsula, where I believe it has caused the extinction of at least one native form, Trachycysti* rariplicata Bs., for which I have often searched at Green Point, its sole locality, without unearthing anything more interesting than thousands of the European species. From Cape Town H. piscina has spread across the Flats to Somerset West and Gordons Bay, and as far inland as Stellenbosch, while within the last thirty years it has become extremely plentiful at Port Eliza- beth and in the G-amtoos Valley. It was first noticed at Durban on sand-hills near the lighthouse in August, 1905, by Dr. Longstaff, and at East London in November, 1915, by E. M. Lightfoot, who rightly points out that its presence in the three last-mentioned localities is more likely to be due to separate introductions than to spreading of the species. LEUCOCHILOIDES CALAHAKICUS (Bottger). Even if the above is identical with such as senegalensis Morelet, or fallax Say, it can hardly be classed as an introduced species until the original home of this world-diffused form is determined. South African localities are: Jansenville ; Prieska ; Tauugs ; Hay District ; G-hous ; Bullspoort ; near Schlip in Damaraland ; and the Victoria Falls. ACHATINA AURORA Pfeiffer. There can be little doubt that the beach-rolled singleton which con- stitutes this species was neither born in Durban nor ever entered that port alive, but until it can be definitely identified with one of the equatorial forms it is impossible to determine its true habitat. ACHATINA FULICA (Ferussac). It is rather remarkable that this common East Coast and Mauritian species has not secured a wider footing in South Africa, the only known instance of its incursion being a half-grown specimen, which was captured in a Durban garden near some tins containing Crotons from Mauritius, and presented alive to Mr. Burnup about 15 years ago. C^ECILIOIDES ACICULA (Muller). Widely diffused, though infrequent, throughout the continent, apparently quite inseparable from the European form. I have found Notes on South African Non-marine Mollusca. 189 it in gardens at Wynberg, where it was very probably introduced direct in soil from England, and in the Bushveldt in the Northern Transvaal, where it is most unlikely to have been deposited by human agency. Other recorded localities ai-e Bloemfonteiu, Prieska, Cradock and Kimberley, to which may now be added Grahamstown (Kiucaid and Farquhar) and Macequece District, Portuguese East Africa. I have little doubt that G. advena Aucey, from Disappointment Vlei, Ovampoland, and C. ovampoensis M. & P., described from Ovampolaud and recorded by Sturany from Matolla, near Delagoa Bay, are synony- mous with C. acicula, but no authentic example of advena can be traced, while the Type-set of ovampoensis is now in hardly sufficiently good condition to admit of accurate comparison. SUBULINA OCTONA (Bruguiere). A shell attributed to this circum-tropical species is common at the Victoria Falls. As it is recorded by Pilsbry from both the East and West Coasts of Africa its occurrence in the centre is not unnatural. Pilsbry remarks : " It is generally and I believe correctly held that this species in the tropics of the Old World is an emigrant from America. It appears first to get foothold in centres of trade and agriculture and to spread with extraordinary rapidity into neighbouring districts" (Man. of Conch, xviii, p. 74). RUMINA DECOLLATA (Lilllle). As mentioned in my Reference List, there is no evidence that the two examples of this species which were found at Port Elizabeth in 1897 were imported in other than dead condition. They have recently been secured for the collection of the South African Museum. LIMN.EA TRUNCATULA (Miiller). The species named by Kiister L. umlaasianus and placed in the above synonymy by Bourguignat is by no means common in South Africa, being only recorded from the Umlaas River, Natal ; Fountains, Pretoria, and Stellenbosch. PLANOEBIS GIBBONSI Nelson. As this species was described from Zanzibar its occurrence in the Black River, Maitland, where it was first found in 1910, might appear to be due to human aid, but as it has since turned up in the Congo 190 Annals of the South African Museum. Free State and subfossil in a second South African locality, Newlauds, near Kimberley, it may well be endemic to a great part of South- equatorial Africa. IsiDORA CONTORTA (Micliaud). Although included in my Reference List, it is a little doubtful whether the truly typical form of this northern species exists south of the Zambesi, or whether the slightly immature examples from Grahams- toAvu, which I have attributed to it, might not have developed into I. tropica (Krauss). The latter is, in my opinion, merely the southern race of contorta, a variable species from which not only tropica, but several other named forms from various parts of the continent are hardly varietally separable. (191) INDEX. A. PAGE abbreviata (Pythia) . . 105 ACAVID^E . . .122 Achatina ( Achatinidte ) 188 acicula (Csecilioides) . 188 acuta (Auricula) . . 105, 120 advena (Csecilioides) . 189 sequaiis (Melampus) . 105 affinis (Pedipes) . . 106 agrestis (Agriolimax) . 184 Agriolimax (Limacidse) . . 184 alexandri (Dorcasia) . . 1C7 alliaria (Polita) . . 182 amarula (Tiara) . . 99 ambiguosus (Trigonephrus ) . 159 arboreus (Zonitoides) . . 183 Arion (Arionidse) . 185 aspersa (Helix) . . .187 aurora (Achatina) . 188 australis (Ophicardelus) . . 105 B barrakporensis (Kaliella) . . 183 bulbus (Helix) . . 177 C Csecilioides (Achatiuidse) . . 188 calaharicus (Leucochiloides) . 188 callaoensis (Auricula) . . 100, 107 cancellata (Tiara) . 99, 101 cellaria (Polita) . . 182 cernua (Dorcasia) . 166 coacta (Tiara) . . . 100 coagulum (Dorcasia) . . . 162 Cochlicella (Helicidse) . 186 compactus (Trig, ambiguosus, war.) . . 160 conica (Laimodonta) . . 106 contorta (Isidora) . 190 cornea (Cremnobates) . . 105 costata (Melania) ... 99 Cremnobates (Auriculidse) . 103, 107 crystallina (Vitrea) . . .182 cymbseformis (Auricula) . 107, 116 D PAGE decollata (Runiina) . . 189 Dorcasia (Acavidae) . . 121, 161 DOECASIIN^ . . 120, 134 draparnaudi (Polita) . . 183 E elongata (Auricula) . . 106 Enterodonta (Auriculidae) . . 106 Eulota (Helicidse) . 185 excentrica (Vallonia) . . 186 F fallax (Leucochiloides) . 188 t'aux-nigra (Helix) . . 187 filholi (Marinula) . 115 firminii (Auricula) . . 105 flavus (Limax) . . . 184 forestieri (Pedipes) . . 106 fulica (Acliatina) . 188 fuscus (Arion) . . 185 G gagates (Milax) . . 184 gibbons! (Planorbis) . . 189 globulus (Trigoncphrus) . . 143 gracilis (Melampus) . . 105 gypsinxis (Trigonephrusi . . 147 H Helix (Helicidse) . . .187 hottentota (Trachycystis) . . 187 intermedius (Arion) . . 185 Isidora (Limnseidas) . . . 190 isomerioides (Tulbaghinia) . 174 japonicum (Ptipisoma) . 186 192 Annals of the Smith African Mutt-inn. K PAGE Kaliella (Zonitida?) . . IS.'} lactea (Helix) . . 187 laevis (Agriolimax) . . 185 LeucochiJoides (Pupillidse) . . 188 Limax (Limacidse) . . 184 Limnsea (Limnaeidae) . .189 loweana (Phytia) . 105 lucanus (Trigonephrus) . 156 M maindroni (Marinula) . 114 Marinula (Auriculidse) 102, 107 maxigei (Testacella) . . 182 inaxinms (Limax) . 184 Melania (Tiaridse) . 99 MELANIID& . . 99 MELANI1N& . . 99 Milax (Limacidae) . 184 minor (D. alexaiidri, me.) . 169 minor (M. nigra, war.) . 113 Monica (Auriculidse) . . . 103 montana (D. alexandri, var.) . 179 N namaquensis (Trigonephrus) . 154 O octona (Subulina) . 189 orcula (Pupisoma) . 186, 187 ovampoensis (Csecilioides) . . 189 ovulus (Pedipes) . . . 116 parva (Marinula) . .114 patulus (Melampus) . . 107, 116 pellucida (Auricula) . . . 106 pepita (Marinula) . 102, 107 perspectiva (D. alexandri, var.) . 172 Phytia (Auriculidae) . . 103, 120 pisana (Helix) .... 187 Planorbis (Limnasidse) . 189 Polita (Zonitidse) . 182 ponsonlyi (Dorcasia) . . . 159 porphyrostoma (Trigonephrus) . 152 procerus (T. namaquensis, var.) . 155 pulchella (Vallonia) . . .186 punctata (Ovatella) . . . 105 Pupisoma (Helicida?) . . . 186 E PAGE rariplicata (Trachycystis) . . 188 recluziana (Auricula) . . 106, 120 rhoadsi (Marinula) . . . 106 rogersi (Dorcasia) . .164 rosaceus (Trigonephrus) . . 150 rotundata (D. alexandri, i-nr.) . 169 Rumina (Achatinidse) . . 189 schaernse (Tulbaghinia) . . 174 Senegal ensis (Leucochiloides) . 188 setosa (Tiara) . . 99 siegmanni (D. alexandri, var.) . 169 sigurensis (Kaliella) . . 183, 187 similaris (Eulota) . 185 solida (Cremnobates) . . 107, 116 sub ula (Auricula) . 106 Subulina ( Achatinidse) . 189 Testacella (Testacellidte) . 182 Thiara (Tiaridse) . 99 thiarella (Melania) . . 100 THIARIDJE . 101 Tiara (Tiaridse) . 99 TIAEID^J . 99 TIARIN^E . . 99 Trachycystis (Endodontidse) 187, 188 Trigonephrus (Acaviilse) . 121, 140 triplicate (Phytia) . 106,120 tristanensis (Marinula) . . 108 trivia (D. alexandri, var.) . . 171 tropica (Isidora) . 190 truncatula (Limnsea) . 1N7, 189 tuberculata (Tiara) . . 99 Tulbaghinia (Acaviche ) 173 umlaasianus (Limnseus) . . 189 Vallonia (Helicidae) 186 variegattts (Limax) . . 184 velaini (Marinula) . 113 vespertina (Phytia) . . 105 Vitrea (Zonitidee) . 182 vulcani (Auricula) . 105 xanthostoma (Marinula) . .116 Zonitoides (Zonitidse) . . . 183 (193) 9. Two New Species of Marginella from South .(/'rim. By LEWIS J. SHACKLEFORD. MARGINELLA TOMLINI sp. nov. Shell. Four whorls rather obtusely conical, smooth and very polished, pale straw-coloured, with no markings except two rows of irregularly J. S. Gladstone, photo. FIG. 1. Marginella tomlial. x 2. J. S. Gladstone, photo. FIG. 2. Marginella. tomlini. x 2. oblong black spots on the body-whorl, the upper of which is continued round the upper whorls, the spots becoming rounder and smaller as they approach the apical whorls, which are plain and glassy. The lower begins near the margin and ascends spirally on to the upper- most plait. There are ten spots in this row, three of which are on the plait itself. Spire raised only about 3 mm. above the summit of the outer lip. Suture not impressed. Spire moderately convex. Aperture long., 15 mm. ; lat. max. 3 mm. Margin moderately thickened. Columella with four well-defined plaits, the upper two being nearly straight and rather far apart, the lower two oblique. The outer lip 194 Anna/* <>f the Month African is white and smootli within and considerably curved. The plicae and margin are also white. Long. 18 nun. ; lat. 9 mm. Hob. Cape St. Blaize (S. Africa) N. by E. i E., distant 68 miles- 105 fathoms, s.s. " Pieter Faure." Type unique in the South African Museum. MARGINELLA TAYLORI sp. nov. Shell. Subtriangular ovate, smooth, shining, colour pale cream with a faint yellow band round the base ; spire blunt, the apex glassy ; suture slightly impressed ; whorls 4, the last whorl rising distinctly towards the aperture. J.S. Gladstone, phuto. FIG. 3. Marginella taylori. x 4. J. S. Gladstone, photo. FlG. 4. Marginella taylori. x 4. Coluninella covered with a thin callus, with seven plaits, somewhat oblique, the three uppermost almost obsolete, the others well defined and rather far apart, the penultimate the largest, the last very oblique. Aperture narrow for two-fifths of the upper part, thence widening as far as the base. Length of aperture 4 mm. ; greatest width 5 mm. Labrum moderately curved, thickened, finely lirate within, minutely denticulated along its entire length and inflected backwards in the lower part. Long. 5 mm. ; cliam. max. 2 mm. Hob. Cape St. Blaize (S. Africa) N. by E. E., distant 68 miles- 105 fathoms, s.s. " Pieter Faure." Two specimens, one broken, in the South African Museum. Named after Mr. J. Kidson Taylor (Buxton, Eug.), who has made Marginella a special study. The apparent marking shown on the figures, especially the back view, is due to the partial erosion of the shell. (195) 10. A Revision of the Lizards of the Genus Nucras, Gray. By Gr. A. BOULENGER, LL.D., D.Sc., F.R.S. (Published by permission of the Trustees of the British Museum.) (With Plates VI-VII.) INTRODUCTION. When, some twenty-five years ago, the late Dr. E. Klebs submitted to me the oldest known Lacertid (Oligoceue) with the lepidosis preserved through imbedding in amber, a careful comparison with recent lizards led me to refer it to the genus Nucras, although the essential generic character of the position of the nostril could not be ascertained, my conclusion being based on an examination of the digits and of the scaling of the gular and pectoral regions, which agreed better with Nucras tessellata than with any other lizard with which I was acquainted.* Since then I have made a more thorough study of the Lacertidae from the point of view of their probable evolution, and independent, correlative reasons have confirmed my provisional identification so far that, quite apart from any palae- ontological consideration, I am now inclined to regard Nucras as, on the whole, the most primitive genus of the Lacertidae. At the time I examined the lizard in amber, the representatives of the genus were believed to be confined to Africa no further north than the Zambesi Basin, and my suggested identification may there- fore have seemed somewhat risky from the standpoint of zoogeo- graphy. We must, however, bear in mind that, in Tertiary times, the general character of the reptile fauna of the northern parts of * Cf. R. Klebs, Schrift. Phys.-oek. Ges. Konigsberg, li., 1910, p. 227. As this lizard has uot received a name I propose to designate it as Nucras succineus. 15 196 Annals of the South African Museum. what is now the Palaearctic Region differed strongly from that of the present day. Iguanidae, now confined to the New World, Fiji, and Madagascar, occurred in the Miocene of Europe, and the Pleurodirau Chelouiaus, at the present time found only in Tropical and South Africa, Madagascar, and South America, were represented in the Eocene as far north as England. Wilhin the last fifteen years the range of Nucras has been ascertained to extend further to the north in Africa (Lake Victoria), and, in accordance with the view of the probable origin of these lizards, the northernmost species (N. emini) has every claim to be considered, from the morphological standpoint, as the most primitive of the genus. I therefore believe that Nucras had a northern origin, an opinion further supported by the fact that the Lacertidae, like the Agamidae, being absent from Madagascar, must have extended their range towards the south only after the connection of Africa with that island had been severed, whilst the presence of Iguanidae, Grerrhonotidae, and Chamaeleontidae may be explained by these having reached Madagascar from Africa at a period previous to the southern extension of the Lacertidae and Agamidae. The reasons for regarding the genus Nucras as the most primitive of the Lacertidae are the same as set forth in my recent paper on the derivation of the species of Lacerta,* in which L. acjilis is held to be the surviving representative of the ancestor of most, if not all, of the species of the genus Lacerta with which we are at present acquainted. Of the ten characters, or sets of characters, there mentioned nine are in accoi'dance with this view, the only two (7, 9) in which Nucras is not so primitive being the reduction of the dorsal lepidosis to smooth granules and the long tail, in which all the species at present known agree. f Otherwise we find (1) constant presence of teeth on the palate ; (2) a non-depressed or feebly depressed skull of moderate ossification (no supraorbital fontauelle, no dermal ossifications in the temporal region), although less primitive than that of L. agilis, owing to the narrower internarial space (comparable to L. vivipara in N. delalandii, to L. muralit in N. tessellata) ; (3) presence, in some forms at least, of the foramen parietale ; (4) nostril between two or three nasals, the first upper labial being well separated from it, and absence, in some species, of small scales between the supraoculars and the superciliaries ; (5) lower eyelid without transparent disc ; (6) no * Tr. Zool. Soc. xxi., 1916, p. 1. t Unless it be true that the tail of N. loulengeri is only 1? to li times the length of head and body, as stated in the description ; but it is not improbable that the fact of the organ being in a regenerated condition has been overlooked. A Revision of the Lizard* <>f I In' 'imy Nucrcts, Gray. 197 deuticulatiou in front of the ear-opening ; (8) cylindrical or feebly compressed digits with smooth lamellae interiorly ; (10) the ideal type of primitive markings in some forms, no vivid colours on the head and body. The niain principles of the evolution of markings, as held by me, are well supported by a study of the genus Nucras, which embraces striated, ocellated, and barred forms. The most primitive pattern, with 11 light longitudinal streaks, at least anteriorly, occurs in N. intertexta, var. holubi, and in N. tessellata (taeniolata, Smith). In the latter species the markings may vanish towards the posterior part of the body, and the streaks 011 the sides break up into spots and, further, rearrange themselves into cross-bars, as happens also in N. intertexta, var. liolubi. The dorsal striation may disappear and lead to ocellated forms (N. intertexta, typica). The most pronounced ocellar pattern, accompanied by the loss of the longitudinal streaks, is exemplified by N. delalandii, in which, further, the ocelli may disappear, to be replaced by black cross-bars. As a rule the white longitudinal streaks are more numerous on the nape than on the body, but I find one individual exception in a typical N. tessellata, which shows three dorsal streaks on the nape and four on the body. There are two important points in which the striation in Nucras differs fi'om that in Lacerta : (a) The outer light dorsal streak, instead of starting from the superciliary edge, originates on the border of the frontal shield and then follows the supraorbital border and the parietal shield ; (b) the vertebral streak, instead of ending on the base of the tail, may be continued a considerable distance along that organ ; evidently a- primitive condition in accordance with Eimer's law. The distinction of species in this genus has always been a matter of difficulty, all the greater for the small number of specimens which most authors have had at their disposal. I have been so fortunate as to be able to compare large series, preserved partly in the South African Museum, partly in the British Museum. Not long ago* I attempted a rearrangement into varieties from the South African material entrusted to me by my friend Dr. L. Peringuey, but I have since made a more profound study of the subject, resulting in the present monograph, in which detailed descriptions are given of the species and varieties. So much doubt still exists as to the value of certain characters of lepidosis and coloration, that the minute analysis of individual variations, as presented in this paper, will prove useful to * Ann. S. Afr. Mus. v., 1910, p. 473. 198 Annals of the South African Museum. those who might feel inclined to pursue further the investigation of this difficult group of lizards. NUCRAS. Nucras, Gray, Ann. N. H., i, 1838, p. 280 ; Lataste, Ann. Mus. Genova (2), ii, 1885, p. 124; Bouleng., Cat. Liz., iii, p. 52 (1887). Lacerta, part., Dum. & Bibr., Erp. Gen., v,p. 174 (1839) ; Bedriaga, Abh. Senck. Ges., xiv, 1886, p. 24. Nucras, part., Gray, Cat. Liz., p. 33 (1845). Zootoca, part., Gray, op. cit. p. 27. Bettaia, Bedriaga, t.c., p. 435. Head-shields normal. Nostril well separated from the labials, pierced between two or three nasals. Lower eyelid scaly. Collar well marked. Dorsal scales small ; ventral shields feebly imbricate, smooth. Digits cylindrical or very feebly compressed, with smooth lamellae interiorly. Femoral pores. Tail long, cylindrical. Synopsis of the Species. I. No small scales between the supraoculars and the superciliaries, or one or two exceptionally present ; head not or but little broader than deep ; 16 to 20 lamellar scales under the fourth toe. Head 4 to 4 times in length to vent* ; foot as long as or a little longer than head; parietal foramen present ; 40 to 51 scales across middle of body ; ventrals in 28 to 32 transverse series ; transversely enlarged plates under the fore-arm 1. N. emini. Head 4| to 5j times in length to vent ; foot not longer than head ; parietal foramen usually absent ; 34 to 41 scales across middle of body ; ventrals in 32 to 37 transverse series ; trans- versely enlarged plates underthe fore-arm absent or small 2. N. delalandii. Head 4 to 5 times in length to vent ; foot shorter than head; 45 to 53 scales across middle of body ; ventrals in 27 to 34 transverse series . 3. N. boulengeri. II. A series of 2 to 7 small scales between the supraoculars and the super- ciliaries ; 40 to 60 scales across middle of body ; transversely enlarged plates under the fore-arm. * The head is measured to the posterior border of the ear-opening, the skull being considerably longer than the pileus, which accounts for Bedriaga' s state- ment that the ear-opening is situated further back than in Lacerta, " on the side of the neck." A Revision of the Lizards of the Genus Nucras, Gray. 199 Head 3f to 4 times in length to vent, not or but little broader than deep ; foot not or but slightly longer than head ; parietal foramen usually present ; ventrals in 27 to 34 transverse series; 20 to 26 lamellar scales under the fourth toe . 4. N. intertexta. Head 4 to 4f times in length to vent, considerably broader than deep ; foot considerably longer than head ; parietal f oramon usually absent ; ventrals in 25 to 33 transverse series ; 25 to 31 lamellar scales under the fourth toe 5. N. tessellata. 1. NUCRAS EMINI. Nucras delalandii, Tornier, Zool. Jahrb., Syst, xiii, 1900, p. 593. Nucras emini, Bouleug., Ann. and Mag. 1ST. H. (7) xix, 1907, p. 488 ; Nieclen, Mitt, Zool. Mus., Berl., viii, 1913, p. 76. Nucras uJcerewensis, Bolkay, Archivum Zool. (Budapest), i, 1909, p. 13, figs. Nucras tessellata, Sternf. in Schubotz, Wiss. Ergebn. Deutsch. Z.-Afr. Exped. iv, ii, p. 222 (1912). But for the longer tail, proportions much as in L. agilis. Head a little broader than deep, If to 1| times as long as broad, its length (to posterior border of ear-opening) 4 to 41 times in length to vent ; snout obtuse; cheeks swollen in the male. Pileus twice as long as broad. Body scarcely depressed. Hind limb reaching the wrist or the axil ; foot as long as the head or a little longer ; digits feebly compressed. Tail nearly twice as long as head and body. Nasals in contact behind the rostral ; frontonasal broader than long ; praefroritals forming a median sutui'e, or frontal narrowly in contact with the frontonasal ; frontal about If times as long as broad, as long as its distance from the end of the snout; fronto- parietals much shorter than the frontal ; parietals 1| times as long as broad ; interparietal 2 to 2| times long as broad ; occipital very small. Four supraoculars, first and fourth small, first in contact with the frontal ; 4 or 5 superciliaries, in contact with the supra- oculars. Two superposed postnasals ; anterior loreal not half as long as second ; subocular not or but little narrower beneath than above, between the fourth and fifth upper labials ; two large upper temporals, first much longer than the second and in contact with the fourth supraocular; lower temporal scales rather large, upper smaller and granular ; a large tympanic shield. Five large and vertically elongate scales in the middle of the lower eyelid. 200 Annals of the South, African Museum. Parietal foramen aud pterygoid teetli present. G-ular scales much enlarged towards the collar, 18 to 21 between the symphysis of the chin- shields and the median collar-plate; no gular fold. Collar serrated, composed of 7 to 9 plates. Scales granular, round or squarish, smooth, enlarged on the lower part of the side and passing gradually into the ventral plates ; 42 scales across the middle of the body. Ventral plates in 6 or 8 longitudinal and 28 or 29 transverse series.* Two large praeanal plates, one befoi'e the other, and a single semicircle of smaller plates. A series of 7 or 8 transversely enlarged plates on the lower surface of the forearm. Scales on upper surface of tibia smaller than dorsals. 10 to 12 femoral pores on each side. 17 or 18 lamellar scales under the fourth toe. Upper caudal scales rather broad, slightly oblique, strongly keeled, posterior border very obtusely pointed or rounded. The two specimens examined differ in the coloration. The smaller, the type of N. emini, appears to be a half-grown male. Pale reddish brown above, with very small black dots and a faint trace of a light vertebral streak ; a black lateral band from the eye to the root of the tail, edged with a light streak above and beneath and bearing a series of white spots with a tendency to run together into a streak ; limbs with small dark brown spots or vermiculations ; tail reddish ; lower parts white. The larger specimen, an adult male of stouter habitus, agrees better with Bolkay's figure of N. ukerewensis. Dark brown above, with an interrupted white vertebral streak ; five series of small, white, black- edged spots on each side, the upper and lower corresponding to the light streaks of the preceding specimen ; hind limbs with small white, black-edged ocellar spots ; lower parts white. Measurements (in millimetres) : From end of snout to vent ,, fore limb Length of head ..... Width of head Depth of head ..... Fore limb ...... Hind limb . . . , Foot ... Tail 63 46 23 16 15 11 10 7 9 6 20 15 26 24 15 14 134 * 32 in the type of N. ukerewensis, according to Bolkay. A Revision of the Lizards of the Genus Nucras, Gray. 201 Particulars of Specimens Examined. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. c?,Loika . 63 42 29 10 21 11-10 17 Hgr. ,, Pirie Bush (Trevelyan) c? ,, (Stenning) . ? East London $ E. Cape Colony . Van Keenen, Natal ,, Natal .... 5 Sibudeni, Zululand Lessouto, Basutoland (Lataste coll.) $ Krugersdorp, Transvaal + $ Barberton, ,, ,, Damaraland . 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 90 36 36 9 29 15 17 86 38 34 12 29 ? p 60 38 32 9 25 13 17 120 40 37 9 30 13-14 19 89 37 34 9 30 14-13 18 112 39 35 14 27 13-11 20 96 37 36 13 31 14 18 75 41 34 10 27 12-13 19 86 36 35 9 25 11-12 19 71 40 35 11 29 15 20 88 35 35 9 24 12-10 17 102 36 37 10 24 12 18 106 35 37 8 23 12 16 93 39 36 8 26 12-13 20 83 37 34 10 23 12 19 102 34 32 8 26 12-13 18 74 40 35 9 23 10-11 17 90 35 36 10 25 13-14 17 81 89 93 94 38 35 37 37 35 35 37 34 7 9 9 10 29 30 29 28 14-15 13 11 14 19 19 20 19 Columns as in the preceding species. Habitat. Eastern parts of Cape Colony, Natal, Basutoland, Trans- vaal. As observed by Hewitt, Ann. Transv. Mus., ii, 1910, p. 114, the occurrence of this eastern species in Damaraland is doubtful and rests only on the specimen recorded above, which forms part of a series of Reptiles purchased in 1865, without any indication of the collector ; but there is this to say in favour of the correctness of the locality, that the other specimens associated with it belong to species known to inhabit S.W. Africa, A Revision of the Lizards of the Genus Nucras, Gray. 205 3. NUCRAS BOULENGERI. Nucras boulengeri, O. Neumann, Ann. and Mao;. N. H. (7), v, 1900, p. 56 ; Sterufeld in Sclmbotz, Wiss. Ergebn. Deutsch. Z.-Afr. Exped., iv, ii, p. 222 (1912) ; Nieden, Mitt, Zool. Mus., Berl., vii, 1913, p. 76. " Body elongate; head not depressed, its length (to ear-opening) con- tained 4|- to 5 times in the length from snout to vent ; two postnasals ; no granules between the supraoculars and the superciliaries ; inter- parietal not so long and narrow as in N. tessellata and N. delalandii ; occipital very small ; subocular bordering the lip between the fourth and fifth upper labials ; two supratemporals bordering the parietals ; tympanum half as large as the ear-opening. Dorsal scales small, pointed behind, larger on the sides of the body ; 45 to 53 scales round the body ; ventrals in 6 longitudinal and 27 to 30 transverse series. Femoral pores 11 or 12. Foot much shorter than the head. Tail thinner than in N. tessellata and N. delalandii, lj to 1^ as long as head and body.* Colour brown above, with small indistinct blackish spots ; bluish white boneath." Distinguished from N. delalandii by the smaller size, the smaller and pointed dorsal scales, fewer ventrals, and the shorter foot. Lubwas, Usoga, British East Africa (two specimens). This species, which is only known to me from the above description, appears to be perfectly distinct. A third specimen, a male 63 mm. long from snout to vent, from Lake Victoria, has since been described by Sternfeld. 51 scales round the body, ventrals in 8 longitudinal and 34 transverse series, 12 femoral pores on each side. A fourth, from the Eldaina River, British East Africa, with 10-11 femoral pores, has been noticed by Nieden. 4. NTJCRAS INTERTEXTA. Forma typica. Lacerta intertexta, A. Smith, Mag. N. H. (2), ii, 1838, p. 93.f Lacerta delalandii, var. &, Dum. & Bibr. Erp. G-en., v, p. 243 (1839). * Tail probably regenerated. In the specimen noticed by Nieden, it is nearly twice as long as head and body. f The type specimen, described by A. Smith and by Dumeril and Bibron, was presented to the British Museum by the former author in 1865, tinder the name of L. delalandii, along with the types of the other Nucras in his private collection, and its absolute concordance with the original description was over- looked by me, when, following Smith himself, I placed L. intertexta in the synonymyof N. delalandii. Although not labelled as such, the specimen is cer- tainly A. Smith's type. It was referred by me to N. tessellata. 206 Annals of the South African Museum. Nucras tessellata, part., Bouleuger, Cat. Liz., iii, p. 52 (1887) ; Hewitt, Ann. Transv. Mus., ii, 1910, p. 112. Nucras tessellata, var. ocellata, Bouleug., Ann. S. Afr. Mus., v, 1910, p. 475. Nucras delalandii, part., Hewitt, t.c., p. 111. Head small, slightly broader than deep, 1| to If times as long as broad, its length 4 to 4 times in length to vent ; snout obtuse. Pileus 24 times as long as broad. Body feebly depressed. Limbs moderate, the hind limb reaching the wrist or the elbow ; foot as long as the head ; digits feebly compressed. Tail tapering from the base, 1^ to 2| times as long as head and body. Nasals forming a short or very short suture behind the rostral ; frontonasal broader than long, broader than the mteruarial space ; praefrontals forming a short or very short suture ; frontal as long as its distance from the end of the snout, l to If times as long as broad, narrower, behind, than the supraoculars ; frontoparietals much shorter than the frontal or than their distance from the posterior border of the pileus ; parietals If times as long as broad, outer border some- times emargiuate for the accommodation of the anterior upper temporal ; interparietal narrow, 3 times as long as the occipital, which may be broader or rudimentary and pushed back behind the pileus ; parietals and interparietal shorter in proportion to their width in the very young. Four supraoculars, first and fourth small, first narrowly in contact with the frontal ; 5 or 6 superciliaries ; 2 to 4 small scales between the supraoculars and the superciliaries. Two superposed postnasals ; anterior loreal barely half as long as second ; 4 upper labials anterior to the subocular, which is usually narrower beneath than above ; an elongate upper temporal, in contact with the fourth supraocular, followed by 2 or 3 smaller shields ; temple covered with small hexagonal or granular scales, which are about as large as the dorsals ; a round or oval tympanic shield. Lower eyelid with 5 or 6 vertically enlarged scales in the middle. Parietal foramen and pterygoid teeth present. Griilar scales small, juxtaposed, increasing in size and imbricate towards the collar, 27 to 36 in a straight longitudinal series ; no gular fold. Collar even-edged or feebly serrated, composed of 10 to 13 plates. Scales on body oval, juxtaposed, smooth, 40 to 44 across the middle of the body, 2 and 3 on the side corresponding to a ventral plate. Ventral plates in 6 or 8 longitudinal series, those of the second series from the median line the broadest, and 29 to 34 transverse series A Revision of the Lizards of the Genus Nucras, Gray. 207 Praeanal plate large, with a smaller one on each side and a large pair in front, or two subequal praeauals, one in front of the other. A series of 4 to 7 transversely enlarged plates on the lower surface of the fore limb. Scales on upper surface of tibia smaller than dorsals. 11 to 14 femoral pores on each side. 20 to 25 lamellar scales under the fourth toe. Caudal scales forming whorls of nearly equal length, upper rather narrow, the median pair sometimes broader, rather strongly keeled, truncate behind, with distinct sensory pits. The type specimen, a female from Latakoo, near Kurumau, now rather bleached, has the markings well preserved, although the black has turned to a pale brown, and answers to A. Smith's diagnosis : " Colour above, reddish brown, with two rows of circular white spots, discontinued about half-way between the anterior and posterior extremities, each spot surrounded by a black ring ; sides chequered, black and white, the latter colour disposed in narrow vertical stripes. Tail light brown, with a dotted black line on each side, and the space between them above marked with small black spots. Under parts white." This description is supplemented by a very good account of the same specimen by Dumeril and Bibrou, of which this is a translation : Instead of a great number of small black spots with white pupils (as in L. delalandii), there are only two series, but a little larger, on each side of the back. Two or three irregular blackish spots on the upper lip. Two vertical blackish stripes on the temple, which is white ; a third above the ear, and three or four on the neck. Others along the flanks, but shorter ; on examining them carefully, one may guess how they were formed. It is probable that, in early youth, white spots encircled with black existed on the flanks ; gradually, as they enlarged, the black circle opened above and beneath ; then each of the two portions became raised and fused with the other, whilst simul- taneously the white central spots enlarged vertically, thus producing alternating black and white vertical bars. Upper surface of hind limbs with some white spots incompletely surrounded with blackish. Here and there some black spots on the upper surface of the base of the tail ; others, smaller, are present on the sides, so regularly arranged and so crowded as to form a longitudinal stripe (PI. VI, fig. 8). The interpretation given to the markings by the authors of the ' Erpetologie Gencrale' is fully confirmed by the examination of the young, with which we are now acquainted (var. ocellata, Blgr.). Very young specimens (37-40 mm. to vent), from Pietersburg, Transvaal, are dark brown above and blackish on the sides, with 208 Annals of the South African Museum. numerous white ocelli in three or four series on the back and three series on each side ; a white vertebral streak on the nape, which may be continued, interrupted, on the body ; sides of head and neck with black and white vertical bars ; upper orbital border whitish ; a white streak on each parietal shield, continuous with the outer dorsal series of ocelli; tail coral-red. In a larger young (43 mm.), from Kokong. Bechuaualand, the dorsal markings are the same, but the ocelli on the sides of the body have fused to form vertical bars (PI. VI, fig. 7). A half-grown female, from Rusteuburg, Transvaal, is reddish brown above, with an interrupted light, black-edged vertebral streak, a dorso- lateral series of ocelli, and three series of ocelli on each side, the lower of which are more or less confluent into a light longitudinal streak from the shoulder to the root of the hind limb ; head and neck as in the preceding (PI. VI, fig. 6). A half-grown male, from Rustenburg, Transvaal, is similar to the preceding, but the white eyes of the ocelli on the nape are in the form of longitudinal lines, whilst the black borders of the ocelli run together to form cross-bands on the back, as is frequent in JV. delalandii, from the young of which it is hardly to be distinguished, so far as the coloration is concerned. Measurements (in millimetres) : Length of head Width of head Depth of head Fore limb . Hind limb . Foot . Tail . 1. ?, type, Latakoo. 2. ?, Pietersburg, Transvaal. 3. $ , Kus- tenburg, Transvaal. Under the name of var. holubi, Stdr., I group together a number of specimens which, whilst agreeing essentially in structure with N. intertexta, differ from the type in the back being striated through- out life. 1. 2. 3. , to vent ... 80 63 55 fore limb . . 25 21 17 . 17 14 12 . 11 9 8 9 7-5 7 . 22 20 16 . 34 29 26 . 17 15 13 . 117 106 112 2. ? , Pietersburg, Transvaal. 3. 3 Var. holubi. Lacerta tessellata, part., Peters, Reise Mossamb., iii, p. 44 (1882). Eremias holubi, Steind., Sizb. Ak. Wien, Ixixvi, i, 1882, p. 83, pi. . A Revision of the Lizards of the Genus Nucras, Gray. 209 Lacerta cameranoi, Bedriaga, Abb. Senck. Ges., xiv, 1886, p. 378 pi. -figs. 2, 9, 11, 31. Nucras tessellata, part., Bouleng., Cat. Liz., iii, p. 52 (1887). Nucras tes$ellata, Bouleng., in Distant, Nat. Transv., p. 174 (1892). Nucras tessellata, var. taeniolata, Bocage, Herp. Ang., p. 30 (1895). Nucras tessellata, var. ornata, Bouleng., Ann. Natal Mus., i, 1908, p. 225. Nucras tessellata, vars. holubi, ornata, Bouleng., Ann. S. Afr. Mus., v, 1910, p. 474. Nucras liolubi, Sternf. in Schubotz, Wiss. Ergebn. Deutsch. Z.-Afr. Exped., iv, ii, p. 222 (1912). Head 3| to 4 times in length to vent, sometimes as deep as broad, sometimes a little broader, the cheeks often swollen in the males, Pileus usually twice as long as broad. The hind limb reaches the wrist or the elbow, rarely the axil * or just overlaps the fore limb t ; foot as long as or slightly longer or slightly shorter than the head. Lepidosis as in the typical form, but suture between the praef rentals sometimes longer, frontal sometimes nearly twice as long as broad, interparietal often broader (2 to 3 times as long as broad), first supra- ocular often extensively in contact with the fi-ontal, the fourth some- times separated from the anterior upper temporal + ; 2 to 6 small scales between the supraoculars and the superciliaries, of which there may be 7 ; anterior loreal sometimes more than half as long as second ; tympanic sometimes very small, rarely absent. 25 to 33 gular scales in a longitudinal series ; collar composed of 7 to 14 plates. 44 to 60 scales across the middle of the body. Ventral plates in 27 to 34 transverse series. A large praeaual bordered by 4 or 6 smaller shields, or 2 large praeanals, one in front of the other, or 3 forming a triangle bordered by a semicircle of small plates. 11 to 20 femoral pores on each side. 20 to 26 lamellar scales under the fourth toe. * Male and young from Bulawayo. t Female from Lake Nyassa. J Males from Vredefort Road and Eustenburg, females from Lydenburg and Kimberley. The upper temporal is then entirely on the temple. Bedriaga observes, a propos of his L. cameranoi, that the upper temporals are on the upper surface, forming part of the pileus, in the South African species (my Nucras). The series of specimens here referred to N. intertexta shows this character to be by no means a constant one, as these shields may be lateral and perpendicular to the parietals. There is thus in Nucras the same amount of variation with respect to this feature as in L. muralis, in which Mehely has used it for the distinction of his Archaeolacertae and Neolacertae. A single postnasal on one side in a young from Bulawayo. 210 Annals of the South African Museum. Varies much in markings. The principal variations may be arranged as follows, starting with the most primitive. A. (N. tessellata, var. taeniolata, Bocage.). Four or five* white dorsal streaks separated by wider dark brown interspaces, and three white streaks on each side, the upper (proceeding from the temple above the ear-opening) broken up, anteriorly, into a series of round spots ; on the posterior part of the body, these markings fade into a pale buff colour, which also occupies the upper surface of the limbs and tail. The coloration is thus very similar to that of Smith's L. taeniolata. Dongwenna, Mossamedes. (PI. VII, fig. 1.) B. (E. liolubi, Stdr., I.e., lower figure). Three white dorsal streaks separated by broader black or dark brown interspaces, and 2 (some- times broken up into spots) along each side ; the white vertebral streak continued for a short distance on the tail, which bears 3 dark longitudinal streaks ; the outer dorsal light streak extends on the parietal shield, where it joins the light supraoi'bital border. Limpopo Valley, Transvaal (Steindaclmer) ; Eustenburg, Transvaal ; Vredefort Eoad, Orange River Colony ; Kimberley, Burghersdorp, Cape Colony. (PL VII, fig. 2). C. (E. holubi, Stdr., I.e., upper figure). Back reddish brown, with 3 dark-edged light streaks ; a broad dark brown or black lateral baud from the temple to above the hind limb, bearing 1, 2, or 3 series of roundish white spots, and edged below by a white streak which may be broken up into spots. Limpopo Valley (Steiudachner) ; Zoutpansburg, Transvaal ; Lydenburg, Transvaal ; Vredefort Eoad, Orange Eiver Colony ; Bulawayo ; Port Elizabeth. (PI VII, fig. 3). D. As in the preceding, but temple and side of neck with black and white vertical bars. Umfolosi Eiver, Natal; Pretoria; Bindura, S. Rhodesia. (PI. VII, fig. 4). E. The black and white vertical bars are continued, more or less distinct, on the flanks. Umfolosi Eiver. (PI. VII, fig. 5). F. Back reddish brown with black dots and mere traces of the 3 light streaks ; a blackish lateral band with very numerous small round white spots ; sides of head with black and white vertical bars, tail with numerous small dark and light spots. Lake Nyassa. (PI. VI, fig. 10). This form appears to represent Bedriaga's L. cameranoi, from Tette, Mozambique, but the fingers are not quite so short f, the figure accompanying the desci'iptioii showing them to be very similar to those of N. delalandii. Four in the male, five in the female ; only two specimens examined, t They are shorter and thicker in the female than in the male. A Revision of the Lizards of the Genus Nucras, Gray. 211 Gr. As in K, but without the light vertebral streak, and with black dots on the back and on the sides of the belly. Urnfolosi River. H. As in D, but no light vertebral streak, and the light dorso-lateral streak ending midway between the fore and hind limbs ; black dots on the sides of the belly. This variation forms a complete connection with the typical N. intertexta, the only difference being that the light ocellar spots on the nape and anterior part of the back have fused to form a dark-ed^ed lateral streak. I)e Kaap Groldfields, Transvaal. (PL VI, fig. 9). All the young specimens examined have 3 or 5 light dorsal streaks and the tail is of a coralline red. The var. holubi must be regarded as more primitive than the typical form, and the pattern described under A, along with the taeniolata form of N. tessellata, as the original from which all others in the genus can be derived without the least difficulty. Measurements (in millimetres) : 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. From end of snout to vent 80 96 95 75 86 55 62 58 70 to fore limb. 2S 29 34 25 30 19 20 21 23 Head . . . 19 20 24 17 20 13 14 13 15 Width of head . . 12 13 15 11 12 8 9 8 10 Depth of head . . . 11 11 13 10 10 7 7 8 8'5 Fore limb 25 26 29 22 25 17 17 18 20 Hind limb 38 39 45 33 36 26 26 29 33 Foot . .... 19 20 21 17 18 13 13 14 16 Tail 170 215 123 180 116 135 1. (?, Nyassa. 2. ?, Nyassa. 3. $, Umfolosi E. 4. ? , Zoutpansberg. 5. ? , De Kaap Goldfields. 6. $ , Yredefort Eel. 7. ? , Vredefort Ed. 8. n>ad; occipital very short, sometimes broader than the int.T] ;< i -id;tl. Four supraoculars, first and fourth small, and sometimes divided into two, first extensively in contact with the frontal ; 7 or 8 superciliaries : 2 to 7 small scales between the supraoculars and the superciliaries. Two superposed postnasals, rarely one * ; anterior loreal i to f times as long as second ; 4 upper labials anterior to the subocular, which is a little narrower beneath than above ; an elongate anterior upper temporal, often in contact with the fourth supraocular f, followed by 1 or 2 smaller shields ; temple covered with small hexagonal or gran- ular scales, which are about as large as the dorsals or smaller ;. tym- panic shield roundish, often small or absent. Parietal foramen usually absent. Pterygoid teeth present. Grular scales small, juxtaposed, increasing in si/e and imbricate * Types of L. taeniolata. Also in a young from Clamvilliam which, in its marking's agrees with the f Not in contact in five S| 3 : one of the types of L. taeniolata, two of the types of L. livida, male from Deelfontein, and female from Little Namaqua- land. 214 Annals of the South African Museum. towards the collar, 25 to 33 in a straight longitudinal series ; no gular fold. Collar even-edged, composed of 8 to 13 plates. Scales on body roundish or oval-hexagonal, smooth, 40 to 60 across the middle of the body, 2 and 3 on the side corresponding to a ventral plate. Ventral plates in 6 or 8 longitudinal series, those of the second series from the median line the broadest, and 25 to 34 transverse series. Praeaual region covered with several irregular shields, or with two large shields one in front of the other. A series of 6 or 7 transversely enlarged plates on the lower surface of the fore limb. Scales on upper surface of tibia smaller than dorsals. 11 to 16 femoral pores on each side. 25 to 31 lamellar scales under the fourth toe. Caudal scales forming whorls of nearly equal length, upper rather narrow, the median pair often broader, rather strongly keeled, truncate or very obtusely pointed behind, with more or less distinct sensory pits. As in the preceding species, the markings differ very strikingly according to individuals, and some at least of the different patterns, on which species have been founded, perhaps indicate local forms or varieties. I here enumerate those with which I am acquainted, be- ginning with the most primitive : A. (L. taeniolata, Smith). Eight white streaks on the back and sides, sometimes nine on the nape and anterior part of back, separated by black streaks ; the outer dorsal light streak extending to the fourth supraocular, the upper lateral, originating just above the ear, some- times broken up into spots. Posterior part of back and tail brown above, the latter inclined to red near the extremity and with a blackish lateral streak. Lower parts white. " Grassy districts of Cape Colony," Smith ; Little Namaqualand ; Pine Town, Natal (South African Museum). (PI. VII, fig. 6.) B. (L. livida, Smith). Back with light and dark streaks as in the preceding, or pale buff behind with black vermiculations ; sides black with numerous small white spots, which form irregular vertical bars on the temple and neck. " Northern parts of Cape Colony," Smith ; Little Namaqualand ; Deelfontein. (PI. VII, figs. 7, 8.) C. (L. tessellata, Smith ; T. ornata, Gray). Neck and anterior part of back black, with 3 or 4 white lines above and very regular white vertical bars on the sides ; posterior part of body grey or pale buff, with more or less distinct black bars on the sides. Feet and tail coral-red or reddish, at least in the young. " Eastern parts of Cape Colony," Smith ; Clanwilliaui, Calviuia, Worcester, Klipfontein, in Cape Colony ; Zambesi (Sir J. Kirk). (PI. VII, figs. 9, 10.) A Revision of the Lizards of the Genus Nucras, Gray. 215 In the var. pseudotessellata, Bedr., from Mozambique, there are 5 white lines on the nape. D. (L. elegans, Smith). Pale reddish brown above and on the sides; two white, black-edged streaks on the neck. " Little Namaqua- laud and the country towards the Orange River," Smith ; Smithfield, Orange River Colony. In the following tabulation of specimens examined the same arrange- ment is adopted : Measurements (in millimetres) : 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. From end of snout to vent . 70 65 47 74 80 62 fore limb . 24 24 18 25 28 20 Head 15 15 11 16 17 13 Width of head . . . . 9 10 7 10 12 8 Depth of head . . . .77 5 7'5 9 6 Fore limb 20 22 16 22 22 18 Hind limb . . . 34 37 27 39 40 29 Foot .... . 19 20 15 21 21 16 Tail .... . 125 120 1. Type of L. tessellata. 2,4. Little Namaqualand. 3. Klipfontein. 5. Type of L. livida. 6. Type of L. taeniolata. Particulars of Specimens Examined. (1). A. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. ? Type of L. taeniolata 62 48 6 32 11 28 15-14 26 6-7 Yg. 40 45 6 27 11 30 15-16 25 5 ? Little Namaqualand 57 52 8 29 10 29 13 28 4 B. $ Type of L. livida .... 54 46 6 25 8 29 13 27 4-3 . . . . 47 56 6 29 8 33 12-13 30 2 ? . . . . 80 47 8 30 11 33 11 28 5 c? Deelfontein, Cape Colony 72 48 8 27 11 31 13 26 4-3 C. $ Type of L. tessellata 70 47 6 31 9 31 15-13 27 7-6 Little Namaqualand 65 45 6 29 9 29 15 27 4 ? ... 74 42 6 31 12 30 15 27 5-4 cj Guires, Little Namaqualand 58 44 6 27 12 31 15 28 4 Yg. Clanwilliam, W. Cape Colony . 40 41 6 31 9 29 14-15 30 7-6 35 ?) jy 40 40 6 31 9 32 14 26 5-4 , . 62 47 8 32 8 p 14-15 30 4 Smithfield, O.E. Col. (S.A. Mus.) . 63 45 6 32 8 33 14 29 3 (1) Tabulated as in the preceding species. 216 Annals of the South African Museum. I have examined in addition 19 specimens preserved in the South African Museum. Scales across the body 40 to 60 ; femoral pores 12 to 16. One specimen, from Little Namaqualand, with a single postnasal. The habitat of N. tessellata is a wide one, extending from Great Namaqualand to the Karroo and Natal, and the species being also on record from Mozambique (Berlin Museum) and the Zambesi (Sir J. Kirk), it will probably be discovered in Southern Rhodesia. The species of Nucras appear to be of very local occurrence, and much more collecting will have to be done before their distribution can be properly mapped out. It is hoped that this contribution to the knowledge of them may be an incentive to the collecting and study of further material. EXPLANATION OF THE PLATES. PLATE VI. Pig. 1. Nucras delalandii, young'. East London, f. 2. $ . Van Beenen, Natal, f. 3. $ . Knigersdorp, Transvaal. 4. $ . Barberton, Transvaal. 5. ? . Krugersdorp, Transvaal. 6. intertexta, $ . Pietersburg, Transvaal, f . 7. young. Kokong, Bechuaualand. |. 8. V > type. Latakoo, near Kurainan. 9. var. holubi. ? . De Kaap, Transvaal. 10. $ . Lake Nyassa. PLATE VII. Fig. 1. Nucras intertexta, var. holubi. $ . Dongwenna, Mossamedes. -|. 2. $ . Burghersdorp, Cape Colony. 3. ,, $ Barberton, Transvaal. |. 4. $ . Umfolosi, Natal, -y-. & !> O j) ,J -g. 6. tessellata, young, type of L. taeniolata. Cape Colony, f. 7. $. Deelfontein, Cape Colony. W-. 8. $ , type of L. livida. Cape Colony. -Y . 9. $ , type. Cape Colony. |. 10. young. S. Africa, f . ANN S . AF P.. M u s . Vo i, HIE. 1 ' > E . .. 2! C rj 0) 0) i I 3 r+ CD H r4- 0) X i p o CO PL, ro_ QJ 0) 00 J. Green, del . ; ! . \e-wn.inirnu ANN. S. APR. MTJS. PLATE \ I CO rt CD M W 0) Ol CO ro 2! o T P CO rl- CC H r- 0) CD r 17%, are Indo-Pacific, while 2 are austral and 8 are Atlantic. These figures show at a glance what a highly characteristic fauna The Echinoderm Fauna of South Africa. 225 South Africa possesses, but this will be more evident if we first see what the relation is between the Mozambique fauna and that of the Cape. Of the 216 species here listed, 59 occur at Mozambique; of these, 32 or 5i" are not known from south of that district and 5 others are not known south of Delagoa Bay, and 12 others either are not known west of Durban or the records for them on the Cape Colony coast are dubious. There are then only 10 species common to the South African coast and to that of the Mozambique region. On the other hand, of the 59 species occurring at Mozambique, 50 occur at Zanzibar or further northward and 5 others are known from some other part of the Indo-Pasific region. Examination of the list of ten species common to Cape Colony and Mozambique shows that one (Tropiometra carinata] ranges from Zanzibar, around the Cape of Good Hope to Brazil and the West Indies, and another (Parechinus angulosus) is one of the endemic species of the Cape, which apparently has extended its range northward along the coast far enough just to reach the Mozambique region. Still another (Asterina exigua] is very common in southeastern Australia and may possibly have reached Mozambique via Cape Colony. The records of the remaining seven species, like Oreaster mammilla! us and Ophiocnemis marmorata are based on single specimens or single instances or on old unreliable Museum specimens, so that there are not more than two <>r three species of echinoderms which can really be called common to both Cape 'Colony and Mozambique. As already pointed out 55 of the 59 species listed from Mozambique are characteristic Indo-Pacific species so that there can be no question in what zoogeographical region the Portugese colony belongs. If we subtract from the 210 species included in this report, the 32 species not known from south of Mozambique, we shall be able to emphazize better the peculiarities of the South African fauna. Of the 184 species of echinoderms known from south of Mozambique, no fewer than 100 or 54 4 are endemic, certainly a very large number. Not quite half (86) of the species are littoral and 45 of these are endemic, while only 7 seem to belong to some other than the Indo- Pacific fauna. Even the 45 endemic forms as a rule show their affinity to some Indo-Pacific species. The littoral echinoderms of South Africa then seem to have come from the east but with the passage of time have become very largely specifically differentiated. The additions from the west have been so exceptional (Ophiothrix fragilis for example) as to be conspicuous. When we examine the continental and abyssal faunas however we find a striking difference. There are 98 species in this combined 226 Annals of the South African Museum. group and of these 55 are endemic, about the same percentage as among the littoral species. But the remaining 43 species show very little Indo- Pacific connection. Only half a dozen are really species of that region, while at least 15 are from the Atlantic and a dozen more are distinctly austral. The remainder are more or less cosmo- politan. When we examine the 55 endemic species we find that their nearest relatives are very largely Atlantic Ocean or West Indian forms or at least they belong in genera occurring in the Atlantic. It seems clear then that the deeper water fauna of the Cape region has not come in from the east but has largely come from the west and north, with the addition of a considerable austral element, the significance of which is not clear. Examination of a chart showing the ocean currents on the coasts of South Africa suggests that they have been a determining factor in the development of the echinoderm fauna of the region. The warm Agulhas current has brought the shoal water Indo-Pacific fauna clear to the Cape itself but the further south and west this fauna has been carried the more it has become modified until no truly Indo-Pacific species occurs at the Cape itself. The Benguela current flowing northward along the western coast has effectually prevented any influx of northern littoral species from the Atlantic. The few notable exceptions such as Ophiothrix fragilis and Ophioderma leonis (an endemic species of a West Indian genus) may perhaps be accounted for as the result of artificial introduction, for example on the foul bottom of a sailing vessel. It is worthy of note that the cold winter water at the Cape, westward of the bend in the Agulhas current, has acted as a very effective barrier in preventing any con- siderable extension of the echinoderm fauna of Natal and southeastern Cape Colony up the west coast. The west coast fauna as revealed by collections at Saldanha Bay and Angra Pequena is a small one made up of about sixteen species, of which only one (Parechinns angulosus) is known from east of Algoa Bay. On the other hand the great surface currents seem to have had little to do with the development of the deeper water fauna, which seems rather to suggest changed continental boundaries. The very evident relation of this fauna to that of the North Atlantic and the West Indies is difficult to account for with the present ocean depths and their boundaries as they are to day. Moreover the distinct and considerable austral element suggests the possibility of former con- tinental lines to the south very different from those of to day. And finally the considerable percentage of widely distributed, if not cos- mopolitan, species, such as those occurring in the North Pacific, The Echinoderm Fauna of South Africa. 227 indicates the lapse of a long time since this deep water fauna entered the South African region. Perhaps the conclusion is more sweeping than the facts warrant but the impression left by the study of the South African fauna is that the region south of Delagoa Bay now forms a very distinct zoogeographical region, only superficially connected with the Indo- Pacific region to the north and east, and quite isolated from any other region : that its original echinoderm fauna was common to a large continental area to the northwest in the Atlantic and to the southward ; and that its present day littoral fauna has moved in from the northeast under the influence of the Agulhas current, but res- tricted by the cold winter water from the southeast. SEA-LILIES. CRINOIDEA. The crinoids form a very insignificant part of the Echinoderm fauna of South Africa. They were listed in 1915 by Mr. Austin Hobart Clark (Deutsche Siid-Polar Exp. : Zoologie, vol. 8, p. 163) who gives three species as occuring along shore in 0-30 fms. and two species as occuring in deep water, 250-450 fms. The col- lection of the South African Museum (45 specimens) contains four of these five species and also four species not known hitherto from the South African region. Of these, one is from comparatively shal- low water (90 fms.) but the other three were taken by the PIETER FAURE only in depths of 900-1000 fms. It is interesting to see therefore that the South African crinoids fall into three groups of three species each, an "abyssal" group of two stalked forms and a five-armed comatulid, a "continental" group of comatulids and a "littoral" group of comatulids. Of the abyssal group, one (Monachocrinus coelus) appears to be a new species of a genus previously known from both the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. A second species (Bijtnocrinus chuni) was hitherto known only from the western part of the Indian Ocean near the Somaliland coast in something over 900 fins. The third species (Pentametrocrinus varians) was hitherto known only from the -northeastern Indian Ocean, the vicinity of the Philippine Islands and southern Japan, in 361-1050 fms. It is interesting to note that the YALDIVIA took an as-yet-undescribed species of Pentametrocrinus in the same region where Bi/thocrinus chuni was taken, but in slightly shallower water. The PIETER FAURE found the two genera at the same station. Of the three continental comatulids, one (Liparometra midticirra) appears to be an uridescribed species of a wide-spread East Indian 228 Annals of the South African Museum. group, while the other two are also apparently endemic species of East Indian geneni. The three littoral species are of particular interest in connection with questions of geographical distribution. One ( Cominia occidental is] is a peculiar, endemic species of a genus known otherwise only from Korea Strait in 170 fms. while a second (Comanthus wahlbergii), also endemic, finds its nearest relative in a South Australian species. The third South African littoral comatulid is the wide-ranging Tro piometra carinata, which occurs from Zanzibar, the Seychelles and Mauritius, southward around the Cape of Good Hope and thence northwestward to St. Helena, the coast of Brazil and the extreme southeastern West Indies. The genus is otherwise distinctly East Indian. It is evident therefore that the South African crinoid fauna is essentially East Indian in its relationships and no doubt in its origin also. The only exception is the Comanthus which is closely allied to a species known only from southern Australia in shallow water. This clearly hints at a common origin for the two and suggests interesting speculations. In the following key to South African crinoids, 1 have used only the simplest and most obvious characters. There are two reasons for this: first, Mr. Austin Hobart Clark, in his most useful work on the Crinoids of the Indian Ocean (1912, Echinoderma of the Indian Museum, pt. 7) has given admirable keys to the families and genera and it is therefore quite superfluous for me to repeat his work; second, the South African species of Cominia is so unlike the Coman- thus that it is not feasible to fit them into the same section of a brief, artificial key and 1 have therefore ignored their family relationship. Consequently the following key is absolutely artificial and does not give the natural sequence of the species, a sequence which is followed in the subsequent pages. The number of species involved is, however, so small that little inconvenience will result from the inconsistency. Key to the South African Species of Crinoids. Stalk present. Only one or two short discoidal segments at top of stalk, immediately below calyx ....... Bythocrinus chuni. More than a dozen short discoidal segments at top of stalk Monachocrinus coelus. Stalk wanting (Comatulids). Arms 10 or more. Cirri numerous, 35 40. Cirrus segments few, 14 18 . . . Cominia occidentalis. Cirrus segments many, 30 36 . . Liparometra multicirra. The Echinoderm Fauna of South Africa. 229 Cirri not so numerous, 12 30. Cirrus segments few, 12 20. Mouth excentnc; basal pinnules of arms with terminal comb Comanthus wahlbergii. Mouth central; no terminal combs on pinnules. Arms 10, more or less compressed; arm-segments beyond middle of arm, short, the distal portion more or less rough and projecting . . . Tropiometra carinata. Arms 10, or more in adults, not compressed ; arm-segments beyond middle of arm not short with the distal portion more or less rough and projecting Pachylometra sclateri. Cirrus segments numerous, 60 63 . Crotalometra magnicirra. Arms only five. . Pentametrocrinus varians. BOURGUETICRINIDAE. BYTHOCRINUS CHUNI. Rhizocrinus chuni Doderlein, 1907, SIBOGA Stalked Crinoids, p. 14, fig. 6; pi. 1, fig. 5. Rhizocrinus (Bythocrinus) chuni Doderlein, 1912. VALDIVIA Stalked Crinoids, p. 14, pi. 3. The specimens of Bythocrinus in the collection all lack the arms, and only two have the calyx still intact. The best has the stalk 47 mm. long and half a millimeter thick at the top; the calyx is 3 mm. high and rather more than 1'5 mm. in diameter at the top. All the specimens are white. They answer so well to Doderlein's descrip- tion and figures of his specimens from off the Somaliland coast, that, in spite of their imperfect condition, their identity seems sure. PIETER FAURE. 17350. Cape Point. N. 86 E., 43 miles. 9001000 fms. Gray mud. 4 specimens. MONACHOCRINUS COELUS, * Sp. nOV. Plate VIII. Fig. 1. Fragment of upper part of stem present, not quite 7 mm. long, about -30 mm. in diameter at broken end, a very little thicker where it joins calyx; it is made up of 29 segments of which the topmost 1'2 are very low and discoidal, the height about one-fifth or one-sixth the diameter; the next six are discoidal but successively higher; the nineteenth is nearly, and the twentieth quite, as high as thick, and * xol/loc; ^ hollowed, in reference to the slightly concave lines of basals and radials. 230 Annals of the South African Museum. the remainder are much higher than broad (the 29th is three times as high as thick), smooth and cylindrical. Basals completely fused into a truncated cone, about half a milli- meter high, nearly half a millimeter in diameter, where it joins the radials, and about one-third of a millimeter where it joins the stem. Seen from the side, the lateral margins of this cone are distinctly though very slightly concave. Radials 5, about -75 mm. high; the upper (distal) diameter of the cup they form is one millimeter. Seen from the side, the lateral margins of this cup are distinctly though slightly concave. I BR, about MO mm. long and *85 mm. wide, very little wider distally than proximally. The lateral margins are very slightly thinned and flaring. The median line is not at all carinate but is barely elevated on the distal two-thirds of the plate. I Bn 2 , the axillary, is remarkably low and wide; it measures about 85 mm. in width, but is only about '60 mm. high, even in the median line where it is slightly higher than at the sides. The lateral portions are flat, in contrast to the middle, but are hardly flaring. The brachials are about twenty in number; the lowest is about 40 mm. wide where it joins the axillary but is only about -35 mm. at the distal end, and that is the approximate width of the following segments. The brachials are arranged in pairs, -75--80 mm. long, the total length of the arms, from axillary to tip being about 8 mm. The latero-distal margin of the distal brachial of each pair is slightly projecting and overlapping, first on the outer side of the arm (second brachial), then on the inner (fourth), and thus in regular alternation, but the projection is much too slight to give the arm a serrate or even a rough appearance. Colour, nearly white. P.F. 17350. Cape Point N. 86 E., 43 miles. 900-1000 fms. Gray mud. 1 specimen only. Holotype South African Museum, no. A 6434. This is a most interesting little crinoid, clearly a Monachvcrinus, but differing from all the previously known members of the genus in the very wide, low axillaries, and in the slightly concave radials and basals. These two characters taken in connection with the large number of discoidal columnars and the structure of the arms, make the species easily recognizable. As the genus is known from both the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, its occurrence off South Africa is quite natural. The Echinoderm Fauna of South Africa. 231 COMASTERIDAE. COMINIA OCCIDENTALIS. A. H. Clark, 1915. Deutsche Siid-Polar Exp.: Zool., vol. 8, p. 164; pi. 10. This little comatulid is a most perplexing form, for while the general appearance is quite like a comasten'd, the central mouth and excentric anal tube combined with the absence of terminal combs on the basal pinnules completely conceal the family relation- ship. Mr. Clark in his original description says: "Die Zlihne des Endkammes sind so wenig entwickelt dass sie bei gewohnlicher Untersuchung nicht auffallen." I have failed to detect the combs even with the aid of a magnification of 70 diameters, in either alcoholic or dry material. It is true that with high magnification, on dry pinnules an uneven margin can be found at the tip, but it is not enough to consider even as a rudimentary comb. In view of this absence of combs and the central position of the mouth, it is hard to see why this species should be considered one of the Co- masteridae but in deference to Mr. A.H. Clark's much wider expe- rience and greater knowledge of the group, I leave it where he has placed it. Some of the PIETER FAURE specimens are a little larger than those of the GAUSS and there are some trivial differences. The cirri are about XL, 16-18, and the longer ones measure 12-15 mm. The dorsal interradial perisome has calcareous plates more or less abun- dant but it is not "heavily plated". The three lower pairs of pinnules are approximately equal. Genital glands occur out as far as the twentieth pinnule. The color is yellow-brown with no trace of olive. The GAUSS specimens were taken in False Bay (west side, Simon's Bay) while those of the PIETER FAURE, it is interesting to note, were collected well up on the Atlantic coast of Cape Colony, P.F. 14905. Saldanha Bay, Cape Colony, 10-14 fms. Sand and mussel-beds. 16 specimens. COMANTHUS WAHLBERGII. Plate VIII. Fig. 3. Alecio wahlbergii 3. Miiller, 1843. Arch. f. Naturg., Jahrg. 9, vol. 1, p. 131. Comanthus tcuhlbergii A. H. Clark, 1911. Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus., vol. 40, p. 17. Actinometra parvicirra Bell, 1905. Mar. Inv. South Africa, vol. 4, p. 141. It is interesting to note, although the fact may not be of any significance, that the distribution of this characteristically South 232 Annals of the South African Museum. African species is from Simon's Hay, eastward to the Tugela River, Natal, while the preceding species seems to range rather from Simon's Bay westward and northward. This apparent difference of distribution may however be quite unreal and due only to our present ignorance. P.F. 18282. Simon's Bay, False Bay, Cape Colony, 8-10 fms Rocks. 3 specimens. MARIAMETRIDAE. LlPAROMETRA MULTICIRRA, * Sp. nOV. Plate VIII. Fig. 2. Disk about 23 mm. across, ver^ deeply incised; arms about 85 mm. long but they are not quite equal and some scarcely exceed 75 mm. Disk membrane full of crowded, small, calcareous plates. Centro-dorsal large, thick, dorsally flat or a little concave, 6 mm. in diameter; bare dorsal area, nearly 4 mm. across. Cirri XLIII, 30-36, cylindrical at base, but compressed distally; the segments 710 have the length about equal to or even a little exceeding the diameter, but elsewhere the greatest diameter exceeds the length ; beginning usually with the tenth or eleventh segment, but on some cirri further out, there is a median, dorsal elevation, at first rather blunt but soon with a short compressed tip or even a sharp point; on the last segment this becomes an opposing claw as long as half the diameter of the segment ; terminal claw longer than last segment, very sharp. Arms about 50, all but two broken and detached from disk at or near base; arm-segments numerous, exceeding 150, the distal ones being quite short. Division series all 2, well-separated, rounded and smooth. First syzygy between brachials 3 and 4 of the free arm ; second syzygy far out, usually after an interval of more than 20 segments and often 30-40, rarely before segment 20; subsequent syzygies few and at very wide intervals. Low and relatively incon- spicuous synarthrial tubercles occur on all the division series. Lower pinnules not noticeably larger on outer side of arm than on inner. P, (P,, similar) about 9-10 mm. long, consisting of 17-21 segments, all but the basal three longer than wide and all but the basal five or six, cylindrical. P. 2 and P/, very similar but noticeably larger, 12-13 mm. long, with 24-26 segments. P 3 and P t similar to P 2 and approximately equal, or a little smaller and with 1-3 fewer segments. P/, and P ( < distinctly smaller, about equal to Pj. * Multicirrus = having many cirri. The Echinoderm Fauna of South Africa. 233 Succeeding pinnules somewhat smaller, about 7 mm. long. All the basal pinnules are moderately stout at base but taper to a slightly flagellate tip, which is not however very slender. Colour, pale fawn with the oral surface of disk and arms very dark brown, almost black; margins of food grooves on disk, black. P.F. 12157. Durnford Point, Zululand, N.W. b /, W., 12 miles. 90 fins. Broken shells. 1 specimen. Holotype, South African Museum, No. A 6435. It is with no little hesitation that I put this fine new comatulid in the genus Liparometra, but as P 2 and P 3 are of approximately equal size, it seems to me clear that it cannot be placed in either Diehrometra or Lamprometra, as those genera are diagnosed by their founder, Mr. Austin H. Clark. I am somewhat inclined to question the desirability of recognizing these three very closely allied genera, but here again I must defer to the much wider experience of my friend. The present species is, I think, quite distinct from any pre- viously known form, as the large number of arms and cirri, with their numerous segments, are quite characteristic. The few and widely spaced syzygies is also a noticeable feature. TROPIOMETRIDAE. TROPIOMETRA CARINATA. Comatula carinata, Lamarck, 181(5. Anim. s. Vert., vol. 2, p. 534. Tropiometra carinata, A. H. Clark, 1907. Smithson. Misc. Coll., vol. 50, p. 349. Antedon capensis, Bell, 1905. Mar. Inv. South Africa, vol. 4, p. 139; pi. 2. The distribution of this species is of considerable interest. It ranges from the Seychelles, Reunion, Mauritius and Zanzibar southward to the Cape of Good Hope and thence northwestward to St. Helena, Brazil and the southernmost West Indies. It is true that Mr. A. H. Clark considers the specimens from the latter regions specifically distinct from those taken on the east coast of Africa, but a prolonged comparison of specimens from Tobago, B. AY. 1., with individuals of the same size from Zanzibar has satisfied me that the supposed differ- ences do not exist. The specimens from the South African Museum are not notable, except that the smallest (12405-c) has the arms only 20 mm. long, and, like specimens from Tobago of a similar age, the colors are pale yellow and pink-purple. Mozambique; low tide. Nov. 1912. K.H.Barnard coll. 2 specimens. 234 Annals of the South African Museum. Delagoa Bay, Portugese East Africa. Oct. 1912. K. H. Barnard coll. 1 specimen. P.F. 12405-c. Itongazi River, Natal, N.\V. 3 /,, \Y.. 3 miles. 25 fms. Sand and stones. 1 young specimen. THALASSOMETRIDAE. * CROTALOMETRA MAGNICIRRA. Antedon magnicirra, Bell, 1905. Mar. Inv. South Africa, vol. 4, p. 141 ; pi. 4. Cro/alometra magnicirra, A. H. Clark, 1909. Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington, vol. 22, p. 80. This species is not now in the South African Museum, the original specimens having apparently all been retained at the British Museum. It was taken in 300-450 fms., 15-20 miles oil" the coast of Cape Colony, near East London. PACHYLOMETRA SCLATERI. Antedon sdateri, Bell, 1905. Mar. Inv. South Africa, vol. 4, p. 140 ; pi. 3. Pachylometra sdateri, A. II. Clark, 1909. Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington, vol. 22, p. 21. This characteristic species is represented in the present collection by an armless adult specimen and a number of quite young indivi- duals. The latter were rather puzzling owing to the small centro- dorsal and the relatively long 1 BR series, and the presence in every case of just ten arms. On the other hand, the cirri are essentially like those of the adult (XV-XV1, 15-17) and the I BR series and lower brachials are distinctly wall-sided and in close apposition. The radials are conspicuous, the height being equal to half the breadth, while in the adult specimen they are not only completely concealed but even 1 BRj is barely visible. The adult specimen has the calyx about 12 mm. in diameter and the cirri 18-20 mm. long, while the young ones are only 2 mm. in diameter through calyx and the cirri are but 4-6 mm. long. It is to be regretted that the condition of the adult does not permit of a full description for Bell's account is utterly inadequate. In the young specimens, PI is stiff, erect with 7 seg- ments and P a is similar. P 2 is a little longer, with 9 segments; ,P6, the same. P 3 (and P c ) is a little longer, with 11 segments and is more flagellate at the tip. Subsequent pinnules are shorter. P.F. 12872. East London, Cape Colony, N. 15 miles. 310 fms. Mud. 1 adult specimen, with arms all broken off. * Those species marked with an asterisk are not represented in the South African Museum collections. The Echinoderm Fauna of South Africa. 235 P.F. 12884. East London, Cape Colony, N. 15 miles. 310 fms. Mud. 1 young specimen. P.F. 13227. Cove Rock, near East London, N.W. 3 , , W., 13 miles. 80-130 fms. Coral rock. 13 young specimens. PENTAMETROCRINIDAE. PENTAMETROCRINUS VARIANS. Ettdiocrinus varians, P. H. Carpenter, 1882. Jour. Linn. Soc., Zool., vol. 16, p. -496. 1888, CHALLENGER Comatulae, pi. VIII, figs. 3-7. Pentametrocnnus vanans, A. H. Clark, 1908. Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington, vol. 21, p. J35. Although this specimen lacks cirri and has all the arms broken, it is so similar to specimens of vartans from southern Japan, with which I have compared it, that I do not doubt it belongs to that species. The nearest point to South Africa at which the species has previously been taken is near the Andaman Islands in the north- eastern Indian Ocean. P.F. 17351. Cape Point, N. 86 E., 43 miles. 900-1000 fms. Grey mud. 1 specimen. SEA-STARS. ASTEKOIDEA. * The sea-stars form a very large and important part of the South African Echinoderm fauna. They were listed in 1910 by Doderlein (Schultze's Zool. Anthrop. Ergeb. Forschungsr. Sudafrica, vol. 1, pt. 1, p. ^46) but he did not include species occurring only at depths over 278 fms. (50U m.) nor did he extend the South African region to include Mozambique. His list includes 30 species, but two are synonymous (Astropecten capensis and puntoporaeua) and one (i. e. Sladen's record of Aslerina yunnit) is probably due to a mistaken identification or a misplaced label. The collection sent me from the South African Museum contains 51 species but of these only 14 are in Doderlein's list. There are however 9 additional species pre- viously recorded from Mozambique or from deep water off South Africa and hence not listed by Doderlein which fall within the scope of the present report, which thus includes 74 species; 18 seem to be new to science and are here described for the first time. * After this section was ready for the press I had the pleasure of a visit from Dr. W. K. Fisher, the well-known authority on sea-stars, who very kindly ex- amined many of the specimens and permitted me to proht by his wide knowledge and sound judgement. For this help I beg to offer him herewith my best thanks. 236 Annals of the South African Museum. Of these 74, 35 are truly littoral occurring in water less than twenty fathoms deep, while 9 are strictly abyssal, occurring only in depths beyond 600 fms. The remaining 30 species may be classed as continental. Of the 35 littoral species, 13 are endemic so far as our present knowledge goes ; as 10 of these have been known for a considerable time and have not yet been reported from elsewhere, it is probable that they are truly characteristic forms. Of the remaining 22, 18 are East Indian or Indian Ocean species, of which 15 were previosuly known from the east coast of Africa, north of Mozambique. There are two littoral species (Asterina calcarata, Henricia ornata) which occur on the shores of the southern end of South America, but both these cases require further investigation; each belongs in a genus in which specific limits are ill-defined. There are also two littoral species known from the coasts of southern Australasia; one of these (Coscinasterias calamaria) is a well-defined species and its occurrence at Mauritius lias long been known ; it is unquestionably a valid link between the littoral faunas of Australasia and Africa; the other species however is the dubious Henricia ornata, a name under which several species are perhaps involved. Of the two remaining South African littoral species, one is the rare and little known Culcita veneris, originally from St. Pauls Island, southern Indian Ocean, and since recorded by Bell only, from Cape Colony; the other is the northern starfish, Marthasterias glatialis, whose occurrence at the Cape no longer admits of doubt. It is of importance to note that 12 of the littoral seastars here listed as South African, are not known from south of Mozambique and there are two or three others whose occurrence south of that point is known from only a single record. Of the 30 Continental species, 20 appear to be endemic, but 12 of these are here described as new and may later be found elsewhere. Nevertheless the Continental fauna is very characteristic for in addition to the endemic forms, three are known only from the Kerguelen region. There are three species hitherto known from the Atlantic, two from the East Indian region and one from Australia. The thirtieth, one of the most remarkable members of the Conti- nental fauna is Ceramasler patagonicus, which occurs not only in South American waters but along the Pacific coast of North America to the region of the Commander Islands in Bering Sea. One of the Atlantic members of this fauna (Diplopter aster multipes) has an equally remarkable range, as it occurs in the North Atlantic from about 35 North to Barents Sea and Norway and in the North Pacific The Echinoderm Fauna of South Africa. '237 from San Diego, California, and Suruga Gulf, Japan, to Bering Sea. Of the 9 abyssal species occurring in the present list, only 3 are endemic, while 5 are already known from the deep waters of the Atlantic and one is Antarctic. The endemic species are all new to science. It is of interest to note that none of the abyssal species seems to have come from the east, whereas the littoral fauna has nearly all come from the Indian Ocean. In conclusion then, we may say that so far as our present know- ledge goes the sea-star fauna of South Africa is highly characteristic. Nearly half (36) of the species are endemic and several others occur only in the region of Kerguelen or St. Pauls Island. Of the non- endemic forms, 20 are from the Indo-Pacilic region and 10 from the Atlantic, while the remainder are Australian or South American. The affinities of the littoral fauna are distinctly Indo-Pacific, but if the tropical species, not known from south of Mozambique, are left out of account, it is evident that most of the littoral starfishes of South Africa have become specifically differentiated. On the other hand the continental and abyssal faunas, while perhaps equally well differentiated and as characteristic, have slight East Indian but rather strong Atlantic affinities. The impression made by the study of the South African sea-stars is that the shallow-water forms are of Indian origin and the deeper-water forms are from the Atlantic. There is very little evidence of an Australian or South American influence in the composition of the fauna. It is true that Coscinas- terias calamana is a characteristic Australian species, but it seems to be very rare in South African waters. As already stated no reli- ance can be placed on evidence offered by such forms as Henricia ornata and Asterina calcarata. The occurrence of the characteristically Antarctic genus Cry aster in Algoa Bay is worthy of more than pas- sing notice, since the entire family is otherwise unknown outside of the Antarctic region. The 74 species included in this report belong to no fewer than 16 families. They can be most easily recognized if these families are first differentiated from each other. Under each family will be found the necessary key to the species included in it, which occur in South African waters. Key to the South African Families of Asteroidea. Marginal plates large, defining the contour of the body; abactinal skeleton never reticulate or imbricated but made up of plates, which often bear paxillae or granule-bearing tabulae. 16 238 Annals of the South African Museum. Cribriform organs* present in each interradius . . Porctllanasteridae. No cribriform organs. Marginal plates very spiny, more or leas alternate; papulae restricted to special areas at base of rays .... Benthopectinidae. Marginal plates opposite ; papulae not restricted to special areas at base of rays. Abactinal surface covered witb paxillae. Superornarginal plates well developed . Astropectinidae. Superomarginal plates aborted . . . Luidiidae. Abactinal surface not covered with paxillae. Disk large with big actinal interradial areas, but no actinal papulae. Marginal plates large and conspicuous; disk more or less flat; papulae single or a few together Goniasteridae. Marginale plates not conspicuous; disk elevated or at least very thick ; papulae numerous in large groups. Marginal plates large; abactinal skeleton more or less conspicuous. .... Oreasteridae. Marginal plates small and with abactinal skeleton covered and concealed by a thick skin . . Poraniidat. Disk small with very small actinal interradial areas, or if the latter are well developed there are actinal papulae; marginal plates small; tegumentary developments, granulate (rarely wanting) Ophidiasteridae. Marginal plates small or wanting; abactinal skeleton more or less imbricated or reticulate. Disk not circular and sharply set off from long, more or less terete, and readily detachable arms; marginal plates small but regularly present (except Cryasteridae). Pedicellariae rare or wanting, never pedunculate forcipiform; ambulacral ossicles rarely crowded; pedicels usually in two series. Oral plates rather small, not shovel- or plowshare-shaped; ambu- lacral furrows narrow. Marginal plates conspicuous; actinal plates regularly radiatingly arranged .... . Ganeriidae. Marginal plates quite inconspicuous. Abactinal skeleton formed of closely imbricated plates, bearing very small spineleta .... Asterinidae. Abactinal skeleton not imbricate. Abactinal skeleton more or less reticulate Echinasteridae. Abactinal skeleton entirely aborted Cryasteridae. Oral plates big and shovel- or plowshare-shaped; ambulacral furrows wide. Abactinal skeleton with paxillae or pseudopaxillae, not concealed by a supradorsal membrane . . . Solasteridae. * Technical terms used in this or subsequent keys are fully explained and llustrated in Sladen's CHALLENGER report (1889) or in Fisher's North Pacific Asteroids (Bull. 76 U.S.Nat. Mus , 1911). The Echinoderm Fauna of South Africa. 239 Abactinal skeleton with paxillae concealed, more or less, under a remarkable aupradorsal membrane . . Pterasteridae. Pedicellariae abundant, especially forcipiform; ambulacral ossicles crowded; pedicels in four series ..... Asteriidae. Disk circular sharply set off from the long, more or less terete and readily detachable arms; marginal plates microscopic or wanting . Brisingidae. PORCELLANASTERIDAE. This deep water family is represented in the South African region by only a single species. PORCELLANASTER C/ERULEUS. Wyville Thomson, 1877. Voy. Challenger: Atlantic, vol 1, p. 378; figs. 97, 98. The specimens are all small, with R = 7-9 mm. They are too young to make their specific identity certain but comparison with somewhat larger specimens of ccerulms, taken by the CHALLENGER and the BLAKE, indicates that they are immature examples of that species. The only noteworthy differences are the absence of spines on the supermarginal plates and the incomplete calcification of the inter- brachial areas below. Both these however are easily accounted for as evidence of immaturity. On account of the locality, it would be natural to refer these specimens to P. eremicus Sladen but I am myself satisfied that the specimen on which that species is based, is a young cceruleus. P.F. 16905. Cape Point, N.E. by E. '/4 E., 40 miles. 800-900 fms. Green mud. 1 specimen ; young. P.F. 17351. Cape Point, N. 83 E., 43 miles. 900-1000 frns. Gray mud. 3 specimens; young. BENTHOPECTINIDAE. This family of deep-water starfishes was not known from the South African region hitherto, but the PIETER FAURE has found two species, each representing an interesting genus. One of these forms was known only from near Kerguelen while the other is a widely distributed Atlantic species. They may be separated from each other by the characters given in the following key. but it is evident that each is somewhat variable and does not conform exactly to a strict specific description. 240 Annals of the South African Museum. Key to the South African Species of Benthopectinidae. Papularium a small, circular elevated area; one large spine on actinal surface of adarnbulacrals ...... Pectinaster filholi. Papularium V-shaped; three large spines on actinal surface of each adambul- a.rral ........ Luidiaster hirsutus. PECTINASTEU FILHOLI. Perrier, 1885. Ann. Sci. Nat. (6), vol. 19, no. 8, p. 71. Sladen, 1889, CHALLENGER Ast., pi. 8, figs. 3, 4 (as forcipatns). The South African specimens show slight, hut obvious differences from a coti/pe of filholi with which I have compared them, hut agree very closely with a cotype and other specimens, from the north- western Atlantic, of Sladen's Pontaster forcipatns. From the geogra- phical point of view they would naturally, and I think correctly be referred to Sladen's variety echinata (sic) but Ludwig considers forci- patns a synonym of filholi and after a comparative study of the material in the M. C. Z., I believe he is right. The species has a wide range from near Nova Scotia in the northwest to the vicinity of Marion Island in the southeast, but it is always an abyssal form, ranging from 699 fms. down to 1700. The specimens taken by the I'IETER FAURE are of varied size, the smallest having R = 8 mm. and r = 2(R = 4r), while the largest has R = 59 mm. and r = 11 (R = 5'4r); the body form is thus assumed very early in life. In spinulation, the smallest specimen is surprisingly like the largest, the only difference of importance being the presence, in the adult, of two spines on many inferomarginal plates. The youngster has only a very minute madreporite, scarcely distinguishable, and the papularia are each repr